"SHE\n\nBy H. Rider Haggard\n\n\nFirst Published 1886.\n\n\n\n\nIN EARTH AND SKIE AND SEA\n\nSTRANGE THYNGS THER BE\n\nDoggerel couplet from the\n\nSherd of Amenartas\n\n\n\nI inscribe this history to\n\nANDREW LANG\n\nin token of personal regard\n\nand of\n\nmy sincere admiration for his learning and his works\n\n\n     ORIGINAL PREPARER'S NOTE\n\n     This text was prepared from an 1888 edition published by Longmans,\n     Green, and Co., London. A number of fragments of Greek text, and\n     sketches, have been omitted due to the difficulty of representing\n     them as plain text. However, small fragments of Greek have been\n     transcribed in brackets \"{}\" using an Oxford English Dictionary\n     alphabet table, without diacritical marks.\n\n\n     PREPARER'S NOTE--UNICODE EDITION\n\n     A number of fragments of Greek and other text, omitted from the\n     original posting, have been restored in this Unicode text.\n     Sketches, however, have not yet been restored.\n\n\n\n\nSHE\n\n\n\nINTRODUCTION\n\nIn giving to the world the record of what, looked at as an adventure\nonly, is I suppose one of the most wonderful and mysterious experiences\never undergone by mortal men, I feel it incumbent on me to explain what\nmy exact connection with it is. And so I may as well say at once that I\nam not the narrator but only the editor of this extraordinary history,\nand then go on to tell how it found its way into my hands.\n\nSome years ago I, the editor, was stopping with a friend, \"_vir\ndoctissimus et amicus neus_,\" at a certain University, which for the\npurposes of this history we will call Cambridge, and was one day much\nstruck with the appearance of two persons whom I saw going arm-in-arm\ndown the street. One of these gentlemen was I think, without exception,\nthe handsomest young fellow I have ever seen. He was very tall, very\nbroad, and had a look of power and a grace of bearing that seemed as\nnative to him as it is to a wild stag. In addition his face was almost\nwithout flaw--a good face as well as a beautiful one, and when he lifted\nhis hat, which he did just then to a passing lady, I saw that his head\nwas covered with little golden curls growing close to the scalp.\n\n\"Good gracious!\" I said to my friend, with whom I was walking, \"why,\nthat fellow looks like a statue of Apollo come to life. What a splendid\nman he is!\"\n\n\"Yes,\" he answered, \"he is the handsomest man in the University, and one\nof the nicest too. They call him 'the Greek god'; but look at the other\none, he's Vincey's (that's the god's name) guardian, and supposed to be\nfull of every kind of information. They call him 'Charon.'\" I looked,\nand found the older man quite as interesting in his way as the glorified\nspecimen of humanity at his side. He appeared to be about forty years\nof age, and was I think as ugly as his companion was handsome. To begin\nwith, he was shortish, rather bow-legged, very deep chested, and with\nunusually long arms. He had dark hair and small eyes, and the hair grew\nright down on his forehead, and his whiskers grew right up to his hair,\nso that there was uncommonly little of his countenance to be seen.\nAltogether he reminded me forcibly of a gorilla, and yet there was\nsomething very pleasing and genial about the man's eye. I remember\nsaying that I should like to know him.\n\n\"All right,\" answered my friend, \"nothing easier. I know Vincey;\nI'll introduce you,\" and he did, and for some minutes we stood\nchatting--about the Zulu people, I think, for I had just returned from\nthe Cape at the time. Presently, however, a stoutish lady, whose name\nI do not remember, came along the pavement, accompanied by a pretty\nfair-haired girl, and these two Mr. Vincey, who clearly knew them well,\nat once joined, walking off in their company. I remember being rather\namused because of the change in the expression of the elder man, whose\nname I discovered was Holly, when he saw the ladies advancing. He\nsuddenly stopped short in his talk, cast a reproachful look at his\ncompanion, and, with an abrupt nod to myself, turned and marched off\nalone across the street. I heard afterwards that he was popularly\nsupposed to be as much afraid of a woman as most people are of a mad\ndog, which accounted for his precipitate retreat. I cannot say, however,\nthat young Vincey showed much aversion to feminine society on this\noccasion. Indeed I remember laughing, and remarking to my friend at\nthe time that he was not the sort of man whom it would be desirable to\nintroduce to the lady one was going to marry, since it was exceedingly\nprobable that the acquaintance would end in a transfer of her\naffections. He was altogether too good-looking, and, what is more,\nhe had none of that consciousness and conceit about him which usually\nafflicts handsome men, and makes them deservedly disliked by their\nfellows.\n\nThat same evening my visit came to an end, and this was the last I saw\nor heard of \"Charon\" and \"the Greek god\" for many a long day. Indeed, I\nhave never seen either of them from that hour to this, and do not think\nit probable that I shall. But a month ago I received a letter and two\npackets, one of manuscript, and on opening the first found that it was\nsigned by \"Horace Holly,\" a name that at the moment was not familiar to\nme. It ran as follows:--\n\n\"---- College, Cambridge, May 1, 18--\n\n\"My dear Sir,--You will be surprised, considering the very slight nature\nof our acquaintance, to get a letter from me. Indeed, I think I had\nbetter begin by reminding you that we once met, now some five years ago,\nwhen I and my ward Leo Vincey were introduced to you in the street at\nCambridge. To be brief and come to my business. I have recently\nread with much interest a book of yours describing a Central African\nadventure. I take it that this book is partly true, and partly an effort\nof the imagination. However this may be, it has given me an idea. It\nhappens, how you will see in the accompanying manuscript (which together\nwith the Scarab, the 'Royal Son of the Sun,' and the original sherd, I\nam sending to you by hand), that my ward, or rather my adopted son Leo\nVincey and myself have recently passed through a real African adventure,\nof a nature so much more marvellous than the one which you describe,\nthat to tell the truth I am almost ashamed to submit it to you lest you\nshould disbelieve my tale. You will see it stated in this manuscript\nthat I, or rather we, had made up our minds not to make this history\npublic during our joint lives. Nor should we alter our determination\nwere it not for a circumstance which has recently arisen. We are for\nreasons that, after perusing this manuscript, you may be able to guess,\ngoing away again this time to Central Asia where, if anywhere upon this\nearth, wisdom is to be found, and we anticipate that our sojourn there\nwill be a long one. Possibly we shall not return. Under these altered\nconditions it has become a question whether we are justified in\nwithholding from the world an account of a phenomenon which we believe\nto be of unparalleled interest, merely because our private life is\ninvolved, or because we are afraid of ridicule and doubt being cast\nupon our statements. I hold one view about this matter, and Leo\nholds another, and finally, after much discussion, we have come to a\ncompromise, namely, to send the history to you, giving you full leave to\npublish it if you think fit, the only stipulation being that you shall\ndisguise our real names, and as much concerning our personal identity as\nis consistent with the maintenance of the _bona fides_ of the narrative.\n\n\"And now what am I to say further? I really do not know beyond once more\nrepeating that everything is described in the accompanying manuscript\nexactly as it happened. As regards _She_ herself I have nothing to add.\nDay by day we gave greater occasion to regret that we did not better\navail ourselves of our opportunities to obtain more information from\nthat marvellous woman. Who was she? How did she first come to the Caves\nof Kôr, and what was her real religion? We never ascertained, and now,\nalas! we never shall, at least not yet. These and many other questions\narise in my mind, but what is the good of asking them now?\n\n\"Will you undertake the task? We give you complete freedom, and as a\nreward you will, we believe, have the credit of presenting to the world\nthe most wonderful history, as distinguished from romance, that its\nrecords can show. Read the manuscript (which I have copied out fairly\nfor your benefit), and let me know.\n\n\"Believe me, very truly yours, \"L. Horace Holly.[*]\n\n\"P.S.--Of course, if any profit results from the sale of the writing\nshould you care to undertake its publication, you can do what you\nlike with it, but if there is a loss I will leave instructions with my\nlawyers, Messrs. Geoffrey and Jordan, to meet it. We entrust the sherd,\nthe scarab, and the parchments to your keeping, till such time as we\ndemand them back again. --L. H. H.\"\n\n     [*] This name is varied throughout in accordance with the\n     writer's request.--Editor.\n\nThis letter, as may be imagined, astonished me considerably, but when I\ncame to look at the MS., which the pressure of other work prevented me\nfrom doing for a fortnight, I was still more astonished, as I think the\nreader will be also, and at once made up my mind to press on with the\nmatter. I wrote to this effect to Mr. Holly, but a week afterwards\nreceived a letter from that gentleman's lawyers, returning my own, with\nthe information that their client and Mr. Leo Vincey had already left\nthis country for Thibet, and they did not at present know their address.\n\nWell, that is all I have to say. Of the history itself the reader must\njudge. I give it him, with the exception of a very few alterations,\nmade with the object of concealing the identity of the actors from the\ngeneral public, exactly as it came to me. Personally I have made up my\nmind to refrain from comments. At first I was inclined to believe that\nthis history of a woman on whom, clothed in the majesty of her almost\nendless years, the shadow of Eternity itself lay like the dark wing\nof Night, was some gigantic allegory of which I could not catch the\nmeaning. Then I thought that it might be a bold attempt to portray the\npossible results of practical immortality, informing the substance of\na mortal who yet drew her strength from Earth, and in whose human bosom\npassions yet rose and fell and beat as in the undying world around her\nthe winds and the tides rise and fall and beat unceasingly. But as I\nwent on I abandoned that idea also. To me the story seems to bear the\nstamp of truth upon its face. Its explanation I must leave to others,\nand with this slight preface, which circumstances make necessary, I\nintroduce the world to Ayesha and the Caves of Kôr.--The Editor.\n\nP.S.--There is on consideration one circumstance that, after a reperusal\nof this history, struck me with so much force that I cannot resist\ncalling the attention of the reader to it. He will observe that so far\nas we are made acquainted with him there appears to be nothing in the\ncharacter of Leo Vincey which in the opinion of most people would have\nbeen likely to attract an intellect so powerful as that of Ayesha. He is\nnot even, at any rate to my view, particularly interesting. Indeed, one\nmight imagine that Mr. Holly would under ordinary circumstances have\neasily outstripped him in the favour of _She_. Can it be that extremes\nmeet, and that the very excess and splendour of her mind led her by\nmeans of some strange physical reaction to worship at the shrine of\nmatter? Was that ancient Kallikrates nothing but a splendid animal\nloved for his hereditary Greek beauty? Or is the true explanation what\nI believe it to be--namely, that Ayesha, seeing further than we can\nsee, perceived the germ and smouldering spark of greatness which lay hid\nwithin her lover's soul, and well knew that under the influence of her\ngift of life, watered by her wisdom, and shone upon with the sunshine\nof her presence, it would bloom like a flower and flash out like a star,\nfilling the world with light and fragrance?\n\nHere also I am not able to answer, but must leave the reader to form his\nown judgment on the facts before him, as detailed by Mr. Holly in the\nfollowing pages.\n\n\n\nI\n\nMY VISITOR\n\nThere are some events of which each circumstance and surrounding detail\nseems to be graven on the memory in such fashion that we cannot forget\nit, and so it is with the scene that I am about to describe. It rises\nas clearly before my mind at this moment as though it had happened but\nyesterday.\n\nIt was in this very month something over twenty years ago that I, Ludwig\nHorace Holly, was sitting one night in my rooms at Cambridge, grinding\naway at some mathematical work, I forget what. I was to go up for my\nfellowship within a week, and was expected by my tutor and my college\ngenerally to distinguish myself. At last, wearied out, I flung my book\ndown, and, going to the mantelpiece, took down a pipe and filled it.\nThere was a candle burning on the mantelpiece, and a long, narrow glass\nat the back of it; and as I was in the act of lighting the pipe I caught\nsight of my own countenance in the glass, and paused to reflect. The\nlighted match burnt away till it scorched my fingers, forcing me to drop\nit; but still I stood and stared at myself in the glass, and reflected.\n\n\"Well,\" I said aloud, at last, \"it is to be hoped that I shall be able\nto do something with the inside of my head, for I shall certainly never\ndo anything by the help of the outside.\"\n\nThis remark will doubtless strike anybody who reads it as being slightly\nobscure, but I was in reality alluding to my physical deficiencies.\nMost men of twenty-two are endowed at any rate with some share of the\ncomeliness of youth, but to me even this was denied. Short, thick-set,\nand deep-chested almost to deformity, with long sinewy arms, heavy\nfeatures, deep-set grey eyes, a low brow half overgrown with a mop of\nthick black hair, like a deserted clearing on which the forest had once\nmore begun to encroach; such was my appearance nearly a quarter of a\ncentury ago, and such, with some modification, it is to this day.\nLike Cain, I was branded--branded by Nature with the stamp of abnormal\nugliness, as I was gifted by Nature with iron and abnormal strength and\nconsiderable intellectual powers. So ugly was I that the spruce\nyoung men of my College, though they were proud enough of my feats of\nendurance and physical prowess, did not even care to be seen walking\nwith me. Was it wonderful that I was misanthropic and sullen? Was it\nwonderful that I brooded and worked alone, and had no friends--at least,\nonly one? I was set apart by Nature to live alone, and draw comfort\nfrom her breast, and hers only. Women hated the sight of me. Only a week\nbefore I had heard one call me a \"monster\" when she thought I was out\nof hearing, and say that I had converted her to the monkey theory. Once,\nindeed, a woman pretended to care for me, and I lavished all the pent-up\naffection of my nature upon her. Then money that was to have come to me\nwent elsewhere, and she discarded me. I pleaded with her as I have never\npleaded with any living creature before or since, for I was caught by\nher sweet face, and loved her; and in the end by way of answer she took\nme to the glass, and stood side by side with me, and looked into it.\n\n\"Now,\" she said, \"if I am Beauty, who are you?\" That was when I was only\ntwenty.\n\nAnd so I stood and stared, and felt a sort of grim satisfaction in the\nsense of my own loneliness; for I had neither father, nor mother, nor\nbrother; and as I did so there came a knock at my door.\n\nI listened before I went to open it, for it was nearly twelve o'clock at\nnight, and I was in no mood to admit any stranger. I had but one friend\nin the College, or, indeed, in the world--perhaps it was he.\n\nJust then the person outside the door coughed, and I hastened to open\nit, for I knew the cough.\n\nA tall man of about thirty, with the remains of great personal beauty,\ncame hurrying in, staggering beneath the weight of a massive iron box\nwhich he carried by a handle with his right hand. He placed the box upon\nthe table, and then fell into an awful fit of coughing. He coughed and\ncoughed till his face became quite purple, and at last he sank into\na chair and began to spit up blood. I poured out some whisky into a\ntumbler, and gave it to him. He drank it, and seemed better; though his\nbetter was very bad indeed.\n\n\"Why did you keep me standing there in the cold?\" he asked pettishly.\n\"You know the draughts are death to me.\"\n\n\"I did not know who it was,\" I answered. \"You are a late visitor.\"\n\n\"Yes; and I verily believe it is my last visit,\" he answered, with a\nghastly attempt at a smile. \"I am done for, Holly. I am done for. I do\nnot believe that I shall see to-morrow.\"\n\n\"Nonsense!\" I said. \"Let me go for a doctor.\"\n\nHe waved me back imperiously with his hand. \"It is sober sense; but I\nwant no doctors. I have studied medicine and I know all about it. No\ndoctors can help me. My last hour has come! For a year past I have\nonly lived by a miracle. Now listen to me as you have never listened to\nanybody before; for you will not have the opportunity of getting me to\nrepeat my words. We have been friends for two years; now tell me how\nmuch do you know about me?\"\n\n\"I know that you are rich, and have had a fancy to come to College long\nafter the age that most men leave it. I know that you have been married,\nand that your wife died; and that you have been the best, indeed almost\nthe only friend I ever had.\"\n\n\"Did you know that I have a son?\"\n\n\"No.\"\n\n\"I have. He is five years old. He cost me his mother's life, and I have\nnever been able to bear to look upon his face in consequence. Holly,\nif you will accept the trust, I am going to leave you that boy's sole\nguardian.\"\n\nI sprang almost out of my chair. \"_Me!_\" I said.\n\n\"Yes, you. I have not studied you for two years for nothing. I have\nknown for some time that I could not last, and since I realised the fact\nI have been searching for some one to whom I could confide the boy and\nthis,\" and he tapped the iron box. \"You are the man, Holly; for, like a\nrugged tree, you are hard and sound at core. Listen; the boy will be the\nonly representative of one of the most ancient families in the world,\nthat is, so far as families can be traced. You will laugh at me when\nI say it, but one day it will be proved to you beyond a doubt, that my\nsixty-fifth or sixty-sixth lineal ancestor was an Egyptian priest\nof Isis, though he was himself of Grecian extraction, and was called\nKallikrates.[*] His father was one of the Greek mercenaries raised\nby Hak-Hor, a Mendesian Pharaoh of the twenty-ninth dynasty, and his\ngrandfather or great-grandfather, I believe, was that very Kallikrates\nmentioned by Herodotus.[+] In or about the year 339 before Christ, just\nat the time of the final fall of the Pharaohs, this Kallikrates (the\npriest) broke his vows of celibacy and fled from Egypt with a Princess\nof Royal blood who had fallen in love with him, and was finally wrecked\nupon the coast of Africa, somewhere, as I believe, in the neighbourhood\nof where Delagoa Bay now is, or rather to the north of it, he and his\nwife being saved, and all the remainder of their company destroyed in\none way or another. Here they endured great hardships, but were at last\nentertained by the mighty Queen of a savage people, a white woman of\npeculiar loveliness, who, under circumstances which I cannot enter into,\nbut which you will one day learn, if you live, from the contents of\nthe box, finally murdered my ancestor Kallikrates. His wife, however,\nescaped, how, I know not, to Athens, bearing a child with her, whom she\nnamed Tisisthenes, or the Mighty Avenger. Five hundred years or more\nafterwards, the family migrated to Rome under circumstances of which no\ntrace remains, and here, probably with the idea of preserving the idea\nof vengeance which we find set out in the name of Tisisthenes, they\nappear to have pretty regularly assumed the cognomen of Vindex, or\nAvenger. Here, too, they remained for another five centuries or more,\ntill about 770 A.D., when Charlemagne invaded Lombardy, where they were\nthen settled, whereon the head of the family seems to have attached\nhimself to the great Emperor, and to have returned with him across the\nAlps, and finally to have settled in Brittany. Eight generations later\nhis lineal representative crossed to England in the reign of Edward\nthe Confessor, and in the time of William the Conqueror was advanced to\ngreat honour and power. From that time to the present day I can trace\nmy descent without a break. Not that the Vinceys--for that was the final\ncorruption of the name after its bearers took root in English soil--have\nbeen particularly distinguished--they never came much to the fore.\nSometimes they were soldiers, sometimes merchants, but on the whole they\nhave preserved a dead level of respectability, and a still deader level\nof mediocrity. From the time of Charles II. till the beginning of the\npresent century they were merchants. About 1790 by grandfather made a\nconsiderable fortune out of brewing, and retired. In 1821 he died, and\nmy father succeeded him, and dissipated most of the money. Ten years ago\nhe died also, leaving me a net income of about two thousand a year. Then\nit was that I undertook an expedition in connection with _that_,\" and he\npointed to the iron chest, \"which ended disastrously enough. On my way\nback I travelled in the South of Europe, and finally reached Athens.\nThere I met my beloved wife, who might well also have been called the\n'Beautiful,' like my old Greek ancestor. There I married her, and there,\na year afterwards, when my boy was born, she died.\"\n\n     [*] The Strong and Beautiful, or, more accurately, the\n     Beautiful in strength.\n\n     [+] The Kallikrates here referred to by my friend was a\n     Spartan, spoken of by Herodotus (Herod. ix. 72) as being\n     remarkable for his beauty. He fell at the glorious battle of\n     Platæa (September 22, B.C. 479), when the Lacedæmonians\n     and Athenians under Pausanias routed the Persians, putting\n     nearly 300,000 of them to the sword. The following is a\n     translation of the passage, \"For Kallikrates died out of the\n     battle, he came to the army the most beautiful man of the\n     Greeks of that day--not only of the Lacedæmonians\n     themselves, but of the other Greeks also. He when Pausanias\n     was sacrificing was wounded in the side by an arrow; and\n     then they fought, but on being carried off he regretted his\n     death, and said to Arimnestus, a Platæan, that he did not\n     grieve at dying for Greece, but at not having struck a blow,\n     or, although he desired so to do, performed any deed worthy\n     of himself.\" This Kallikrates, who appears to have been as\n     brave as he was beautiful, is subsequently mentioned by\n     Herodotus as having been buried among the {~GREEK SMALL\n     LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\n     SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\n     NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\n     SIGMA~} (young commanders), apart from the other Spartans\n     and the Helots.--L. H. H.\n\nHe paused a while, his head sunk upon his hand, and then continued--\n\n\"My marriage had diverted me from a project which I cannot enter into\nnow. I have no time, Holly--I have no time! One day, if you accept my\ntrust, you will learn all about it. After my wife's death I turned my\nmind to it again. But first it was necessary, or, at least, I conceived\nthat it was necessary, that I should attain to a perfect knowledge of\nEastern dialects, especially Arabic. It was to facilitate my studies\nthat I came here. Very soon, however, my disease developed itself, and\nnow there is an end of me.\" And as though to emphasise his words he\nburst into another terrible fit of coughing.\n\nI gave him some more whisky, and after resting he went on--\n\n\"I have never seen my boy, Leo, since he was a tiny baby. I never could\nbear to see him, but they tell me that he is a quick and handsome child.\nIn this envelope,\" and he produced a letter from his pocket addressed\nto myself, \"I have jotted down the course I wish followed in the boy's\neducation. It is a somewhat peculiar one. At any rate, I could not\nentrust it to a stranger. Once more, will you undertake it?\"\n\n\"I must first know what I am to undertake,\" I answered.\n\n\"You are to undertake to have the boy, Leo, to live with you till he is\ntwenty-five years of age--not to send him to school, remember. On his\ntwenty-fifth birthday your guardianship will end, and you will then,\nwith the keys that I give you now\" (and he placed them on the table)\n\"open the iron box, and let him see and read the contents, and say\nwhether or no he is willing to undertake the quest. There is no\nobligation on him to do so. Now, as regards terms. My present income is\ntwo thousand two hundred a year. Half of that income I have secured\nto you by will for life, contingently on your undertaking the\nguardianship--that is, one thousand a year remuneration to yourself, for\nyou will have to give up your life to it, and one hundred a year to\npay for the board of the boy. The rest is to accumulate till Leo is\ntwenty-five, so that there may be a sum in hand should he wish to\nundertake the quest of which I spoke.\"\n\n\"And suppose I were to die?\" I asked.\n\n\"Then the boy must become a ward of Chancery and take his chance. Only\nbe careful that the iron chest is passed on to him by your will. Listen,\nHolly, don't refuse me. Believe me, this is to your advantage. You are\nnot fit to mix with the world--it would only embitter you. In a few\nweeks you will become a Fellow of your College, and the income that you\nwill derive from that combined with what I have left you will enable you\nto live a life of learned leisure, alternated with the sport of which\nyou are so fond, such as will exactly suit you.\"\n\nHe paused and looked at me anxiously, but I still hesitated. The charge\nseemed so very strange.\n\n\"For my sake, Holly. We have been good friends, and I have no time to\nmake other arrangements.\"\n\n\"Very well,\" I said, \"I will do it, provided there is nothing in this\npaper to make me change my mind,\" and I touched the envelope he had put\nupon the table by the keys.\n\n\"Thank you, Holly, thank you. There is nothing at all. Swear to me by\nGod that you will be a father to the boy, and follow my directions to\nthe letter.\"\n\n\"I swear it,\" I answered solemnly.\n\n\"Very well, remember that perhaps one day I shall ask for the account of\nyour oath, for though I am dead and forgotten, yet I shall live. There\nis no such thing as death, Holly, only a change, and, as you may perhaps\nlearn in time to come, I believe that even that change could under\ncertain circumstances be indefinitely postponed,\" and again he broke\ninto one of his dreadful fits of coughing.\n\n\"There,\" he said, \"I must go, you have the chest, and my will will be\nfound among my papers, under the authority of which the child will be\nhanded over to you. You will be well paid, Holly, and I know that you\nare honest, but if you betray my trust, by Heaven, I will haunt you.\"\n\nI said nothing, being, indeed, too bewildered to speak.\n\nHe held up the candle, and looked at his own face in the glass. It had\nbeen a beautiful face, but disease had wrecked it. \"Food for the worms,\"\nhe said. \"Curious to think that in a few hours I shall be stiff and\ncold--the journey done, the little game played out. Ah me, Holly! life\nis not worth the trouble of life, except when one is in love--at least,\nmine has not been; but the boy Leo's may be if he has the courage and\nthe faith. Good-bye, my friend!\" and with a sudden access of tenderness\nhe flung his arm about me and kissed me on the forehead, and then turned\nto go.\n\n\"Look here, Vincey,\" I said, \"if you are as ill as you think, you had\nbetter let me fetch a doctor.\"\n\n\"No, no,\" he said earnestly. \"Promise me that you won't. I am going to\ndie, and, like a poisoned rat, I wish to die alone.\"\n\n\"I don't believe that you are going to do anything of the sort,\" I\nanswered. He smiled, and, with the word \"Remember\" on his lips, was\ngone. As for myself, I sat down and rubbed my eyes, wondering if I had\nbeen asleep. As this supposition would not bear investigation I gave it\nup and began to think that Vincey must have been drinking. I knew that\nhe was, and had been, very ill, but still it seemed impossible that he\ncould be in such a condition as to be able to know for certain that he\nwould not outlive the night. Had he been so near dissolution surely he\nwould scarcely have been able to walk, and carry a heavy iron box with\nhim. The whole story, on reflection, seemed to me utterly incredible,\nfor I was not then old enough to be aware how many things happen in\nthis world that the common sense of the average man would set down as\nso improbable as to be absolutely impossible. This is a fact that I have\nonly recently mastered. Was it likely that a man would have a son five\nyears of age whom he had never seen since he was a tiny infant? No. Was\nit likely that he could foretell his own death so accurately? No. Was\nit likely that he could trace his pedigree for more than three\ncenturies before Christ, or that he would suddenly confide the absolute\nguardianship of his child, and leave half his fortune, to a college\nfriend? Most certainly not. Clearly Vincey was either drunk or mad. That\nbeing so, what did it mean? and what was in the sealed iron chest?\n\nThe whole thing baffled and puzzled me to such an extent that at last I\ncould stand it no longer, and determined to sleep over it. So I jumped\nup, and having put the keys and the letter that Vincey had left away\ninto my despatch-box, and stowed the iron chest in a large portmanteau,\nI turned in, and was soon fast asleep.\n\nAs it seemed to me, I had only been asleep for a few minutes when I was\nawakened by somebody calling me. I sat up and rubbed my eyes; it was\nbroad daylight--eight o'clock, in fact.\n\n\"Why, what is the matter with you, John?\" I asked of the gyp who waited\non Vincey and myself. \"You look as though you had seen a ghost!\"\n\n\"Yes, sir, and so I have,\" he answered, \"leastways I've seen a corpse,\nwhich is worse. I've been in to call Mr. Vincey, as usual, and there he\nlies stark and dead!\"\n\n\n\nII\n\nTHE YEARS ROLL BY\n\nAs might be expected, poor Vincey's sudden death created a great stir\nin the College; but, as he was known to be very ill, and a satisfactory\ndoctor's certificate was forthcoming, there was no inquest. They were\nnot so particular about inquests in those days as they are now; indeed,\nthey were generally disliked, because of the scandal. Under all these\ncircumstances, being asked no questions, I did not feel called upon to\nvolunteer any information about our interview on the night of Vincey's\ndecease, beyond saying that he had come into my rooms to see me, as he\noften did. On the day of the funeral a lawyer came down from London and\nfollowed my poor friend's remains to the grave, and then went back with\nhis papers and effects, except, of course, the iron chest which had been\nleft in my keeping. For a week after this I heard no more of the matter,\nand, indeed, my attention was amply occupied in other ways, for I was\nup for my Fellowship, a fact that had prevented me from attending the\nfuneral or seeing the lawyer. At last, however, the examination was\nover, and I came back to my rooms and sank into an easy chair with a\nhappy consciousness that I had got through it very fairly.\n\nSoon, however, my thoughts, relieved of the pressure that had crushed\nthem into a single groove during the last few days, turned to the events\nof the night of poor Vincey's death, and again I asked myself what it\nall meant, and wondered if I should hear anything more of the matter,\nand if I did not, what it would be my duty to do with the curious iron\nchest. I sat there and thought and thought till I began to grow quite\ndisturbed over the whole occurrence: the mysterious midnight visit, the\nprophecy of death so shortly to be fulfilled, the solemn oath that I had\ntaken, and which Vincey had called on me to answer to in another world\nthan this. Had the man committed suicide? It looked like it. And what\nwas the quest of which he spoke? The circumstances were uncanny, so\nmuch so that, though I am by no means nervous, or apt to be alarmed\nat anything that may seem to cross the bounds of the natural, I grew\nafraid, and began to wish I had nothing to do with them. How much more\ndo I wish it now, over twenty years afterwards!\n\nAs I sat and thought, there came a knock at the door, and a letter, in a\nbig blue envelope, was brought in to me. I saw at a glance that it was\na lawyer's letter, and an instinct told me that it was connected with my\ntrust. The letter, which I still have, runs thus:--\n\n\"Sir,--Our client, the late M. L. Vincey, Esq., who died on the 9th\ninstant in ---- College, Cambridge, has left behind him a Will, of which\nyou will please find copy enclosed and of which we are the executors.\nUnder this Will you will perceive that you take a life-interest in about\nhalf of the late Mr. Vincey's property, now invested in Consols, subject\nto your acceptance of the guardianship of his only son, Leo Vincey, at\npresent an infant, aged five. Had we not ourselves drawn up the document\nin question in obedience to Mr. Vincey's clear and precise instructions,\nboth personal and written, and had he not then assured us that he had\nvery good reasons for what he was doing, we are bound to tell you that\nits provisions seem to us of so unusual a nature, that we should have\nbound to call the attention of the Court of Chancery to them, in order\nthat such steps might be taken as seemed desirable to it, either by\ncontesting the capacity of the testator or otherwise, to safeguard\nthe interests of the infant. As it is, knowing that the testator was\na gentleman of the highest intelligence and acumen, and that he has\nabsolutely no relations living to whom he could have confided the\nguardianship of the child, we do not feel justified in taking this\ncourse.\n\n\"Awaiting such instructions as you please to send us as regards\nthe delivery of the infant and the payment of the proportion of the\ndividends due to you,\n\n\"We remain, Sir, faithfully yours,\n\n\"Geoffrey and Jordan.\n\n\"Horace L. Holly, Esq.\"\n\n\nI put down the letter, and ran my eye through the Will, which appeared,\nfrom its utter unintelligibility, to have been drawn on the strictest\nlegal principles. So far as I could discover, however, it exactly bore\nout what my friend Vincey had told me on the night of his death. So\nit was true after all. I must take the boy. Suddenly I remembered the\nletter which Vincey had left with the chest. I fetched and opened it.\nIt only contained such directions as he had already given to me as to\nopening the chest on Leo's twenty-fifth birthday, and laid down the\noutlines of the boy's education, which was to include Greek, the higher\nMathematics, and _Arabic_. At the end there was a postscript to the\neffect that if the boy died under the age of twenty-five, which,\nhowever, he did not believe would be the case, I was to open the chest,\nand act on the information I obtained if I saw fit. If I did not see\nfit, I was to destroy all the contents. On no account was I to pass them\non to a stranger.\n\nAs this letter added nothing material to my knowledge, and certainly\nraised no further objection in my mind to entering on the task I had\npromised my dead friend to undertake, there was only one course open\nto me--namely, to write to Messrs. Geoffrey and Jordan, and express my\nacceptance of the trust, stating that I should be willing to commence\nmy guardianship of Leo in ten days' time. This done I went to the\nauthorities of my college, and, having told them as much of the story\nas I considered desirable, which was not very much, after considerable\ndifficulty succeeded in persuading them to stretch a point, and, in the\nevent of my having obtained a fellowship, which I was pretty certain\nI had done, allow me to have the child to live with me. Their consent,\nhowever, was only granted on the condition that I vacated my rooms\nin college and took lodgings. This I did, and with some difficulty\nsucceeded in obtaining very good apartments quite close to the college\ngates. The next thing was to find a nurse. And on this point I came to a\ndetermination. I would have no woman to lord it over me about the child,\nand steal his affections from me. The boy was old enough to do\nwithout female assistance, so I set to work to hunt up a suitable male\nattendant. With some difficulty I succeeded in hiring a most respectable\nround-faced young man, who had been a helper in a hunting-stable, but\nwho said that he was one of a family of seventeen and well-accustomed to\nthe ways of children, and professed himself quite willing to undertake\nthe charge of Master Leo when he arrived. Then, having taken the iron\nbox to town, and with my own hands deposited it at my banker's, I bought\nsome books upon the health and management of children and read them,\nfirst to myself, and then aloud to Job--that was the young man's\nname--and waited.\n\nAt length the child arrived in the charge of an elderly person, who wept\nbitterly at parting with him, and a beautiful boy he was. Indeed, I do\nnot think that I ever saw such a perfect child before or since. His eyes\nwere grey, his forehead was broad, and his face, even at that early age,\nclean cut as a cameo, without being pinched or thin. But perhaps his\nmost attractive point was his hair, which was pure gold in colour and\ntightly curled over his shapely head. He cried a little when his nurse\nfinally tore herself away and left him with us. Never shall I forget the\nscene. There he stood, with the sunlight from the window playing upon\nhis golden curls, his fist screwed over one eye, whilst he took us in\nwith the other. I was seated in a chair, and stretched out my hand to\nhim to induce him to come to me, while Job, in the corner, was making a\nsort of clucking noise, which, arguing from his previous experience, or\nfrom the analogy of the hen, he judged would have a soothing effect, and\ninspire confidence in the youthful mind, and running a wooden horse of\npeculiar hideousness backwards and forwards in a way that was little\nshort of inane. This went on for some minutes, and then all of a sudden\nthe lad stretched out both his little arms and ran to me.\n\n\"I like you,\" he said: \"you is ugly, but you is good.\"\n\nTen minutes afterwards he was eating large slices of bread and butter,\nwith every sign of satisfaction; Job wanted to put jam on to them, but\nI sternly reminded him of the excellent works that we had read, and\nforbade it.\n\nIn a very little while (for, as I expected, I got my fellowship) the\nboy became the favourite of the whole College--where, all orders and\nregulations to the contrary notwithstanding, he was continually in\nand out--a sort of chartered libertine, in whose favour all rules were\nrelaxed. The offerings made at his shrine were simply without number,\nand I had serious difference of opinion with one old resident Fellow,\nnow long dead, who was usually supposed to be the crustiest man in the\nUniversity, and to abhor the sight of a child. And yet I discovered,\nwhen a frequently recurring fit of sickness had forced Job to keep a\nstrict look-out, that this unprincipled old man was in the habit of\nenticing the boy to his rooms and there feeding him upon unlimited\nquantities of brandy-balls, and making him promise to say nothing about\nit. Job told him that he ought to be ashamed of himself, \"at his age,\ntoo, when he might have been a grandfather if he had done what was\nright,\" by which Job understood had got married, and thence arose the\nrow.\n\nBut I have no space to dwell upon those delightful years, around which\nmemory still fondly hovers. One by one they went by, and as they passed\nwe two grew dearer and yet more dear to each other. Few sons have\nbeen loved as I love Leo, and few fathers know the deep and continuous\naffection that Leo bears to me.\n\nThe child grew into the boy, and the boy into the young man, while one\nby one the remorseless years flew by, and as he grew and increased so\ndid his beauty and the beauty of his mind grow with him. When he was\nabout fifteen they used to call him Beauty about the College, and me\nthey nicknamed the Beast. Beauty and the Beast was what they called us\nwhen we went out walking together, as we used to do every day. Once Leo\nattacked a great strapping butcher's man, twice his size, because he\nsang it out after us, and thrashed him, too--thrashed him fairly. I\nwalked on and pretended not to see, till the combat got too exciting,\nwhen I turned round and cheered him on to victory. It was the chaff of\nthe College at the time, but I could not help it. Then when he was a\nlittle older the undergraduates found fresh names for us. They called me\nCharon, and Leo the Greek god! I will pass over my own appellation with\nthe humble remark that I was never handsome, and did not grow more so as\nI grew older. As for his, there was no doubt about its fitness. Leo at\ntwenty-one might have stood for a statue of the youthful Apollo. I never\nsaw anybody to touch him in looks, or anybody so absolutely unconscious\nof them. As for his mind, he was brilliant and keen-witted, but not a\nscholar. He had not the dulness necessary for that result. We followed\nout his father's instructions as regards his education strictly enough,\nand on the whole the results, especially in the matters of Greek and\nArabic, were satisfactory. I learnt the latter language in order to help\nto teach it to him, but after five years of it he knew it as well as I\ndid--almost as well as the professor who instructed us both. I always\nwas a great sportsman--it is my one passion--and every autumn we went\naway somewhere shooting or fishing, sometimes to Scotland, sometimes\nto Norway, once even to Russia. I am a good shot, but even in this he\nlearnt to excel me.\n\nWhen Leo was eighteen I moved back into my rooms, and entered him at my\nown College, and at twenty-one he took his degree--a respectable degree,\nbut not a very high one. Then it was that I, for the first time, told\nhim something of his own story, and of the mystery that loomed ahead.\nOf course he was very curious about it, and of course I explained to\nhim that his curiosity could not be gratified at present. After that, to\npass the time away, I suggested that he should get himself called to the\nBar; and this he did, reading at Cambridge, and only going up to London\nto eat his dinners.\n\nI had only one trouble about him, and that was that every young woman\nwho came across him, or, if not every one, nearly so, would insist on\nfalling in love with him. Hence arose difficulties which I need not\nenter into here, though they were troublesome enough at the time. On the\nwhole, he behaved fairly well; I cannot say more than that.\n\nAnd so the time went by till at last he reached his twenty-fifth\nbirthday, at which date this strange and, in some ways, awful history\nreally begins.\n\n\n\nIII\n\nTHE SHERD OF AMENARTAS\n\nOn the day preceding Leo's twenty-fifth birthday we both journeyed to\nLondon, and extracted the mysterious chest from the bank where I had\ndeposited it twenty years before. It was, I remember, brought up by the\nsame clerk who had taken it down. He perfectly remembered having hidden\nit away. Had he not done so, he said, he should have had difficulty in\nfinding it, it was so covered up with cobwebs.\n\nIn the evening we returned with our precious burden to Cambridge, and I\nthink that we might both of us have given away all the sleep we got that\nnight and not have been much the poorer. At daybreak Leo arrived in my\nroom in a dressing-gown, and suggested that we should at once proceed to\nbusiness. I scouted the idea as showing an unworthy curiosity. The chest\nhad waited twenty years, I said, so it could very well continue to wait\nuntil after breakfast. Accordingly at nine--an unusually sharp nine--we\nbreakfasted; and so occupied was I with my own thoughts that I regret to\nstate that I put a piece of bacon into Leo's tea in mistake for a lump\nof sugar. Job, too, to whom the contagion of excitement had, of course,\nspread, managed to break the handle off my Sèvres china tea-cup, the\nidentical one I believe that Marat had been drinking from just before he\nwas stabbed in his bath.\n\nAt last, however, breakfast was cleared away, and Job, at my request,\nfetched the chest, and placed it upon the table in a somewhat gingerly\nfashion, as though he mistrusted it. Then he prepared to leave the room.\n\n\"Stop a moment, Job,\" I said. \"If Mr. Leo has no objection, I should\nprefer to have an independent witness to this business, who can be\nrelied upon to hold his tongue unless he is asked to speak.\"\n\n\"Certainly, Uncle Horace,\" answered Leo; for I had brought him up to\ncall me uncle--though he varied the appellation somewhat disrespectfully\nby calling me \"old fellow,\" or even \"my avuncular relative.\"\n\nJob touched his head, not having a hat on.\n\n\"Lock the door, Job,\" I said, \"and bring me my despatch-box.\"\n\nHe obeyed, and from the box I took the keys that poor Vincey, Leo's\nfather, had given me on the night of his death. There were three of\nthem; the largest a comparatively modern key, the second an exceedingly\nancient one, and the third entirely unlike anything of the sort that we\nhad ever seen before, being fashioned apparently from a strip of solid\nsilver, with a bar placed across to serve as a handle, and leaving\nsome nicks cut in the edge of the bar. It was more like a model of an\nantediluvian railway key than anything else.\n\n\"Now are you both ready?\" I said, as people do when they are going to\nfire a mine. There was no answer, so I took the big key, rubbed some\nsalad oil into the wards, and after one or two bad shots, for my hands\nwere shaking, managed to fit it, and shoot the lock. Leo bent over and\ncaught the massive lid in both his hands, and with an effort, for the\nhinges had rusted, forced it back. Its removal revealed another case\ncovered with dust. This we extracted from the iron chest without any\ndifficulty, and removed the accumulated filth of years from it with a\nclothes-brush.\n\nIt was, or appeared to be, of ebony, or some such close-grained black\nwood, and was bound in every direction with flat bands of iron. Its\nantiquity must have been extreme, for the dense heavy wood was in parts\nactually commencing to crumble from age.\n\n\"Now for it,\" I said, inserting the second key.\n\nJob and Leo bent forward in breathless silence. The key turned, and\nI flung back the lid, and uttered an exclamation, and no wonder, for\ninside the ebony case was a magnificent silver casket, about twelve\ninches square by eight high. It appeared to be of Egyptian workmanship,\nand the four legs were formed of Sphinxes, and the dome-shaped cover was\nalso surmounted by a Sphinx. The casket was of course much tarnished and\ndinted with age, but otherwise in fairly sound condition.\n\nI drew it out and set it on the table, and then, in the midst of the\nmost perfect silence, I inserted the strange-looking silver key, and\npressed this way and that until at last the lock yielded, and the casket\nstood before us. It was filled to the brim with some brown shredded\nmaterial, more like vegetable fibre than paper, the nature of which I\nhave never been able to discover. This I carefully removed to the depth\nof some three inches, when I came to a letter enclosed in an ordinary\nmodern-looking envelope, and addressed in the handwriting of my dead\nfriend Vincey.\n\n\"_To my son Leo, should he live to open this casket._\"\n\nI handed the letter to Leo, who glanced at the envelope, and then put it\ndown upon the table, making a motion to me to go on emptying the casket.\n\nThe next thing that I found was a parchment carefully rolled up. I\nunrolled it, and seeing that it was also in Vincey's handwriting, and\nheaded, \"Translation of the Uncial Greek Writing on the Potsherd,\" put\nit down by the letter. Then followed another ancient roll of parchment,\nthat had become yellow and crinkled with the passage of years. This I\nalso unrolled. It was likewise a translation of the same Greek original,\nbut into black-letter Latin, which at the first glance from the style\nand character appeared to me to date from somewhere about the beginning\nof the sixteenth century. Immediately beneath this roll was something\nhard and heavy, wrapped up in yellow linen, and reposing upon another\nlayer of the fibrous material. Slowly and carefully we unrolled the\nlinen, exposing to view a very large but undoubtedly ancient potsherd\nof a dirty yellow colour! This potsherd had in my judgment, once been\na part of an ordinary amphora of medium size. For the rest, it measured\nten and a half inches in length by seven in width, was about a quarter\nof an inch thick, and densely covered on the convex side that lay\ntowards the bottom of the box with writing in the later uncial Greek\ncharacter, faded here and there, but for the most part perfectly\nlegible, the inscription having evidently been executed with the\ngreatest care, and by means of a reed pen, such as the ancients\noften used. I must not forget to mention that in some remote age this\nwonderful fragment had been broken in two, and rejoined by means of\ncement and eight long rivets. Also there were numerous inscriptions on\nthe inner side, but these were of the most erratic character, and had\nclearly been made by different hands and in many different ages, and\nof them, together with the writings on the parchments, I shall have to\nspeak presently.\n\n     [plate 1]\n\n     FACSIMILE OF THE SHERD OF AMENARTAS\n\n     One 1/2 size\n\n     Greatest length of the original    10½ inches\n     Greatest breadth                   7 inches\n     Weight                             1lb 5½ oz\n\n     [plate 2]\n\n     FACSIMILE OF THE SHERD OF AMENARTAS\n\n     One 1/2 size\n\n\"Is there anything more?\" asked Leo, in a kind of excited whisper.\n\nI groped about, and produced something hard, done up in a little linen\nbag. Out of the bag we took first a very beautiful miniature done\nupon ivory, and secondly, a small chocolate-coloured composition\n_scarabæus_, marked thus:--\n\n[sketch omitted]\n\nsymbols which, we have since ascertained, mean \"Suten se Ra,\" which is\nbeing translated the \"Royal Son of Ra or the Sun.\" The miniature was a\npicture of Leo's Greek mother--a lovely, dark-eyed creature. On the back\nof it was written, in poor Vincey's handwriting, \"My beloved wife.\"\n\n\"That is all,\" I said.\n\n\"Very well,\" answered Leo, putting down the miniature, at which he\nhad been gazing affectionately; \"and now let us read the letter,\" and\nwithout further ado he broke the seal, and read aloud as follows:--\n\n\"My Son Leo,--When you open this, if you ever live to do so, you will\nhave attained to manhood, and I shall have been long enough dead to\nbe absolutely forgotten by nearly all who knew me. Yet in reading it\nremember that I have been, and for anything you know may still be, and\nthat in it, through this link of pen and paper, I stretch out my hand\nto you across the gulf of death, and my voice speaks to you from the\nsilence of the grave. Though I am dead, and no memory of me remains\nin your mind, yet am I with you in this hour that you read. Since your\nbirth to this day I have scarcely seen your face. Forgive me this. Your\nlife supplanted the life of one whom I loved better than women are often\nloved, and the bitterness of it endureth yet. Had I lived I should in\ntime have conquered this foolish feeling, but I am not destined to live.\nMy sufferings, physical and mental, are more than I can bear, and when\nsuch small arrangements as I have to make for your future well-being are\ncompleted it is my intention to put a period to them. May God forgive me\nif I do wrong. At the best I could not live more than another year.\"\n\n\"So he killed himself,\" I exclaimed. \"I thought so.\"\n\n\"And now,\" Leo went on, without replying, \"enough of myself. What has to\nbe said belongs to you who live, not to me, who am dead, and almost as\nmuch forgotten as though I had never been. Holly, my friend (to whom, if\nhe will accept the trust, it is my intention to confide you), will have\ntold you something of the extraordinary antiquity of your race. In\nthe contents of this casket you will find sufficient to prove it. The\nstrange legend that you will find inscribed by your remote ancestress\nupon the potsherd was communicated to me by my father on his deathbed,\nand took a strong hold in my imagination. When I was only nineteen years\nof age I determined, as, to his misfortune, did one of our ancestors\nabout the time of Elizabeth, to investigate its truth. Into all that\nbefell me I cannot enter now. But this I saw with my own eyes. On the\ncoast of Africa, in a hitherto unexplored region, some distance to the\nnorth of where the Zambesi falls into the sea, there is a headland,\nat the extremity of which a peak towers up, shaped like the head of a\nnegro, similar to that of which the writing speaks. I landed there,\nand learnt from a wandering native, who had been cast out by his people\nbecause of some crime which he had committed, that far inland are great\nmountains, shaped like cups, and caves surrounded by measureless swamps.\nI learnt also that the people there speak a dialect of Arabic, and are\nruled over by a _beautiful white woman_ who is seldom seen by them, but\nwho is reported to have power over all things living and dead. Two\ndays after I had ascertained this the man died of fever contracted\nin crossing the swamps, and I was forced by want of provisions and by\nsymptoms of an illness which afterwards prostrated me to take to my dhow\nagain.\n\n\"Of the adventures that befell me after this I need not now speak. I was\nwrecked upon the coast of Madagascar, and rescued some months afterwards\nby an English ship that brought me to Aden, whence I started for\nEngland, intending to prosecute my search as soon as I had made\nsufficient preparations. On my way I stopped in Greece, and there, for\n'Omnia vincit amor,' I met your beloved mother, and married her, and\nthere you were born and she died. Then it was that my last illness\nseized me, and I returned hither to die. But still I hoped against hope,\nand set myself to work to learn Arabic, with the intention, should I\never get better, of returning to the coast of Africa, and solving\nthe mystery of which the tradition has lived so many centuries in our\nfamily. But I have not got better, and, so far as I am concerned, the\nstory is at an end.\n\n\"For you, however, my son, it is not at an end, and to you I hand on\nthese the results of my labour, together with the hereditary proofs of\nits origin. It is my intention to provide that they shall not be put\ninto your hands until you have reached an age when you will be able to\njudge for yourself whether or no you will choose to investigate what, if\nit is true, must be the greatest mystery in the world, or to put it by\nas an idle fable, originating in the first place in a woman's disordered\nbrain.\n\n\"I do not believe that it is a fable; I believe that if it can only\nbe re-discovered there is a spot where the vital forces of the world\nvisibly exist. Life exists; why therefore should not the means of\npreserving it indefinitely exist also? But I have no wish to prejudice\nyour mind about the matter. Read and judge for yourself. If you are\ninclined to undertake the search, I have so provided that you will not\nlack for means. If, on the other hand, you are satisfied that the whole\nthing is a chimera, then, I adjure you, destroy the potsherd and the\nwritings, and let a cause of troubling be removed from our race for\never. Perhaps that will be wisest. The unknown is generally taken to be\nterrible, not as the proverb would infer, from the inherent superstition\nof man, but because it so often _is_ terrible. He who would tamper with\nthe vast and secret forces that animate the world may well fall a victim\nto them. And if the end were attained, if at last you emerged from the\ntrial ever beautiful and ever young, defying time and evil, and lifted\nabove the natural decay of flesh and intellect, who shall say that the\nawesome change would prove a happy one? Choose, my son, and may the\nPower who rules all things, and who says 'thus far shalt thou go, and\nthus much shalt thou learn,' direct the choice to your own happiness\nand the happiness of the world, which, in the event of your success,\nyou would one day certainly rule by the pure force of accumulated\nexperience.-- Farewell!\"\n\nThus the letter, which was unsigned and undated, abruptly ended.\n\n\"What do you make of that, Uncle Holly,\" said Leo, with a sort of gasp,\nas he replaced it on the table. \"We have been looking for a mystery, and\nwe certainly seem to have found one.\"\n\n\"What do I make of it? Why, that your poor dear father was off his head,\nof course,\" I answered, testily. \"I guessed as much that night, twenty\nyears ago, when he came into my room. You see he evidently hurried his\nown end, poor man. It is absolute balderdash.\"\n\n\"That's it, sir!\" said Job, solemnly. Job was a most matter-of-fact\nspecimen of a matter-of-fact class.\n\n\"Well, let's see what the potsherd has to say, at any rate,\" said Leo,\ntaking up the translation in his father's writing, and commencing to\nread:--\n\n\"_I, Amenartas, of the Royal House of the Pharaohs of Egypt, wife of\nKallikrates (the Beautiful in Strength), a Priest of Isis whom the\ngods cherish and the demons obey, being about to die, to my little son\nTisisthenes (the Mighty Avenger). I fled with thy father from Egypt in\nthe days of Nectanebes,[*] causing him through love to break the vows\nthat he had vowed. We fled southward, across the waters, and we wandered\nfor twice twelve moons on the coast of Libya (Africa) that looks towards\nthe rising sun, where by a river is a great rock carven like the head\nof an Ethiopian. Four days on the water from the mouth of a mighty river\nwere we cast away, and some were drowned and some died of sickness. But\nus wild men took through wastes and marshes, where the sea fowl hid the\nsky, bearing us ten days' journey till we came to a hollow mountain,\nwhere a great city had been and fallen, and where there are caves of\nwhich no man hath seen the end; and they brought us to the Queen of the\npeople who place pots upon the heads of strangers, who is a magician\nhaving a knowledge of all things, and life and loveliness that does not\ndie. And she cast eyes of love upon thy father, Kallikrates, and would\nhave slain me, and taken him to husband, but he loved me and feared her,\nand would not. Then did she take us, and lead us by terrible ways, by\nmeans of dark magic, to where the great pit is, in the mouth of which\nthe old philosopher lay dead, and showed to us the rolling Pillar of\nLife that dies not, whereof the voice is as the voice of thunder; and\nshe did stand in the flames, and come forth unharmed, and yet more\nbeautiful. Then did she swear to make thy father undying even as she is,\nif he would but slay me, and give himself to her, for me she could\nnot slay because of the magic of my own people that I have, and that\nprevailed thus far against her. And he held his hand before his eyes to\nhide her beauty, and would not. Then in her rage did she smite him by\nher magic, and he died; but she wept over him, and bore him thence with\nlamentations: and being afraid, me she sent to the mouth of the great\nriver where the ships come, and I was carried far away on the ships\nwhere I gave thee birth, and hither to Athens I came at last after many\nwanderings. Now I say to thee, my son, Tisisthenes, seek out the woman,\nand learn the secret of Life, and if thou mayest find a way slay her,\nbecause of thy father Kallikrates; and if thou dost fear or fail, this\nI say to all thy seed who come after thee, till at last a brave man be\nfound among them who shall bathe in the fire and sit in the place of the\nPharaohs. I speak of those things, that though they be past belief, yet\nI have known, and I lie not._\"\n\n     [*] Nekht-nebf, or Nectanebo II., the last native Pharaoh of\n     Egypt, fled from Ochus to Ethiopia, B.C. 339.--Editor.\n\n\"May the Lord forgive her for that,\" groaned Job, who had been listening\nto this marvellous composition with his mouth open.\n\nAs for myself, I said nothing: my first idea being that my poor friend,\nbeing demented, had composed the whole thing, though it scarcely seemed\nlikely that such a story could have been invented by anybody. It was too\noriginal. To solve my doubts I took up the potsherd and began to read\nthe close uncial Greek writing on it; and very good Greek of the period\nit is, considering that it came from the pen of an Egyptian born. Here\nis an exact transcript of it:--\n\n\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nBETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nBETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER 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LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER BETA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nBETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nBETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nZETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~} {~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nCHI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}\n\nThe general convenience in reading, I have here accurately transcribed\nthis inscription into the cursive character.\n\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~},\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nETA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK ANO TELEIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nBETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nPERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON\nWITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~}. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK NUMERAL\nSIGN~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK NUMERAL SIGN~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nDASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA\nWITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK NUMERAL\nSIGN~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nPERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nDASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nYPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK ANO TELEIA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK KORONIS~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI\nAND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nDASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~},\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~},\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA\nWITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}· {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI\nAND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA\nWITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nXI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nCHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH TONOS~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO\nWITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}· {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nETA WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}· {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nXI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK NUMERAL SIGN~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nDASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nDASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK NUMERAL SIGN~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nXI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH OXIA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nDASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER XI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}. {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PSILI AND\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nXI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nDASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON\nWITH PSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ETA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH DASIA AND VARIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~}. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK NUMERAL SIGN~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA\nWITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}·\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nYPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMEGA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK NUMERAL\nSIGN~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA WITH PSILI AND PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA AND PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}· {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nGAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ZETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nETA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nPERISPOMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH YPOGEGRAMMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nFINAL SIGMA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ETA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}, {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL\nSIGMA~}. {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nPSILI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH PSILI AND\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI\nAND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMICRON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH\nVARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMEGA~}, {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH DASIA AND\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON\nWITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA\nWITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nBETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}·\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON\nWITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}, {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER OMICRON WITH DASIA AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH VARIA~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH DASIA AND VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON\nWITH PSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER PSI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nMU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}.\n\nThe English translation was, as I discovered on further investigation,\nand as the reader may easily see by comparison, both accurate and\nelegant.\n\nBesides the uncial writing on the convex side of the sherd at the top,\npainted in dull red, on what had once been the lip of the amphora, was\nthe cartouche already mentioned as being on the _scarabæus_, which we\nhad also found in the casket. The hieroglyphics or symbols, however,\nwere reversed, just as though they had been pressed on wax. Whether this\nwas the cartouche of the original Kallikrates,[*] or of some Prince or\nPharaoh from whom his wife Amenartas was descended, I am not sure, nor\ncan I tell if it was drawn upon the sherd at the same time that the\nuncial Greek was inscribed, or copied on more recently from the Scarab\nby some other member of the family. Nor was this all. At the foot of\nthe writing, painted in the same dull red, was the faint outline of a\nsomewhat rude drawing of the head and shoulders of a Sphinx wearing\ntwo feathers, symbols of majesty, which, though common enough upon the\neffigies of sacred bulls and gods, I have never before met with on a\nSphinx.\n\n     [*] The cartouche, if it be a true cartouche, cannot have\n     been that of Kallikrates, as Mr. Holly suggests. Kallikrates\n     was a priest and not entitled to a cartouche, which was the\n     prerogative of Egyptian royalty, though he might have\n     inscribed his name or title upon an _oval_.--Editor.\n\nAlso on the right-hand side of this surface of the sherd, painted\nobliquely in red on the space not covered by the uncial characters, and\nsigned in blue paint, was the following quaint inscription:--\n\nIN EARTH AND SKIE AND SEA\n\nSTRANGE THYNGES THER BE.\n\nHOC FECIT\n\nDOROTHEA VINCEY.\n\nPerfectly bewildered, I turned the relic over. It was covered from top\nto bottom with notes and signatures in Greek, Latin, and English. The\nfirst in uncial Greek was by Tisisthenes, the son to whom the writing\nwas addressed. It was, \"I could not go. Tisisthenes to his son,\nKallikrates.\" Here it is in fac-simile with its cursive equivalent:--\n\n\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LUNATE SIGMA SYMBOL~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LUNATE SIGMA SYMBOL~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LUNATE SIGMA SYMBOL~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LUNATE SIGMA SYMBOL~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}\n\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nPSILI AND VARIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nIOTA~}. {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~} {~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND\nYPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}.\n\nThis Kallikrates (probably, in the Greek fashion, so named after his\ngrandfather) evidently made some attempt to start on the quest, for his\nentry written in very faint and almost illegible uncial is, \"I ceased\nfrom my going, the gods being against me. Kallikrates to his son.\" Here\nit is also:--\n\n\n{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER THETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nOMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nEPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER RHO~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nSIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nLAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER KAPPA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nETA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK\nCAPITAL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nIOTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER IOTA~}\n\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTHETA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nPSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nTAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH PSILI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER PI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nUPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER MU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~}. {~GREEK CAPITAL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nKAPPA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER RHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nOMEGA WITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~}.\n\nBetween these two ancient writings, the second of which was inscribed\nupside down and was so faint and worn that, had it not been for the\ntranscript of it executed by Vincey, I should scarcely have been able to\nread it, since, owing to its having been written on that portion of the\ntile which had, in the course of ages, undergone the most handling, it\nwas nearly rubbed out--was the bold, modern-looking signature of one\nLionel Vincey, \"Ætate sua 17,\" which was written thereon, I think, by\nLeo's grandfather. To the right of this were the initials \"J. B. V.,\"\nand below came a variety of Greek signatures, in uncial and cursive\ncharacter, and what appeared to be some carelessly executed repetitions\nof the sentence {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA\nWITH PERISPOMENI AND YPOGEGRAMMENI~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER PI~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nDELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH OXIA~} (to my son), showing that\nthe relic was religiously passed on from generation to generation.\n\nThe next legible thing after the Greek signatures was the word\n\"Romae, A.U.C.,\" showing that the family had now migrated to Rome.\nUnfortunately, however, with the exception of its termination (evi) the\ndate of their settlement there is for ever lost, for just where it had\nbeen placed a piece of the potsherd is broken away.\n\nThen followed twelve Latin signatures, jotted about here and there,\nwherever there was a space upon the tile suitable to their inscription.\nThese signatures, with three exceptions only, ended with the name\n\"Vindex\" or \"the Avenger,\" which seems to have been adopted by the\nfamily after its migration to Rome as a kind of equivalent to the Greek\n\"Tisisthenes,\" which also means an avenger. Ultimately, as might be\nexpected, this Latin cognomen of Vindex was transformed first into De\nVincey, and then into the plain, modern Vincey. It is very curious\nto observe how the idea of revenge, inspired by an Egyptian who lived\nbefore the time of Christ, is thus, as it were, embalmed in an English\nfamily name.\n\nA few of the Roman names inscribed upon the sherd I have actually since\nfound mentioned in history and other records. They were, if I remember\nright,\n\nMVSSIVS. VINDEX\n\nSEX. VARIVS MARVLLVS\n\nC. FVFIDIVS. C. F. VINDEX\n\nand\n\nLABERIA POMPEIANA. CONIVX. MACRINI. VINDICIS\n\nthis last being, of course, the name of a Roman lady.\n\nThe following list, however, comprises all the Latin names upon the\nsherd:--\n\n     C. CAECILIVS VINDEX\n     M. AIMILIVS VINDEX\n     SEX. VARIVS. MARVLLVS\n     Q. SOSIVS PRISCVS SENECIO VINDEX\n     L. VALERIVS COMINIVS VINDEX\n     SEX. OTACILIVS. M. F.\n     L. ATTIVS. VINDEX\n     MVSSIVS VINDEX\n     C. FVFIDIVS. C. F. VINDEX\n     LICINIVS FAVSTVS\n     LABERIA POMPEIANA CONIVX MACRINI VINDICIS\n     MANILIA LVCILLA CONIVX MARVLLI VINDICIS\n\nAfter the Roman names there is evidently a gap of very many centuries.\nNobody will ever know now what was the history of the relic during those\ndark ages, or how it came to have been preserved in the family. My\npoor friend Vincey had, it will be remembered, told me that his Roman\nancestors finally settled in Lombardy, and when Charlemagne invaded\nit, returned with him across the Alps, and made their home in Brittany,\nwhence they crossed to England in the reign of Edward the Confessor. How\nhe knew this I am not aware, for there is no reference to Lombardy or\nCharlemagne upon the tile, though, as will presently be seen, there is a\nreference to Brittany. To continue: the next entries on the sherd, if I\nmay except a long splash either of blood or red colouring matter of\nsome sort, consist of two crosses drawn in red pigment, and probably\nrepresenting Crusaders' swords, and a rather neat monogram (\"D. V.\")\nin scarlet and blue, perhaps executed by that same Dorothea Vincey who\nwrote, or rather painted, the doggrel couplet. To the left of this,\ninscribed in faint blue, were the initials A. V., and after them a date,\n1800.\n\nThen came what was perhaps as curious an entry as anything upon this\nextraordinary relic of the past. It is executed in black letter, written\nover the crosses or Crusaders' swords, and dated fourteen hundred and\nforty-five. As the best plan will be to allow it to speak for itself, I\nhere give the black-letter fac-simile, together with the original Latin\nwithout the contractions, from which it will be seen that the writer\nwas a fair mediæval Latinist. Also we discovered what is still more\ncurious, an English version of the black-letter Latin. This, also\nwritten in black letter, we found inscribed on a second parchment that\nwas in the coffer, apparently somewhat older in date than that on which\nwas inscribed the mediæval Latin translation of the uncial Greek of\nwhich I shall speak presently. This I also give in full.\n\n_Fac-simile of Black-Letter Inscription on the Sherd of Amenartas._\n\n\"I{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ta reliq{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ia e{~LATIN\nSMALL LETTER LONG S~}t valde mi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}ticu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} et myrificu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nop{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}s q{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}d maiores mei ex\nArmorica {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}\nBrittania mi{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ore {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}ecu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} co{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}veheba{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}t et q{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}dm {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}c{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}s cleric{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}s {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}e{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}per p{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ri meo\nin manu ferebat q{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}d pe{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}itus\nillvd de{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}trueret, affirma{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}s q{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}d e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}et ab ip{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}o\n{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}athana co{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}flatu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} pre{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}tigio{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}a et dyabolica arte q{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}re p{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ter mevs co{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}fregit illvd i{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} dvas p{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}tes q{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}s q{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}dm ego\nJohs{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} de Vi{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ceto {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}alvas {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ervavi et adaptavi\n{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}icut ap{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}paret die\nlu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}e p{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}r{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\npo{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t fe{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t beate\nMrie vir{g} anni gr{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}e mccccxlv.\"\n\n_Expanded Version of the above Black-Letter Inscription._\n\n\"Ista reliquia est valde misticum et myrificum opus, quod majores mei\nex Armorica, scilicet Britannia Minore, secum convehebant; et et quidam\nsanctus clericus semper patri meo in manu ferebat quod penitus illud\ndestrueret, affirmans quod esset ab ipso Sathana conflatum prestigiosa\net dyabolica arte, quare pater meus confregit illud in duas partes, quas\nquidem ego Johannes de Vinceto salvas servavi et adaptavi sicut apparet\ndie lune proximo post festum beate Marie Virginis anni gratie MCCCCXLV.\"\n\n_Fac-simile of the Old English Black-Letter Translation of the above\nLatin Inscription from the Sherd of Amenartas found inscribed upon a\nparchment._\n\n\"Thys rellike ys a ryghte mistycall worke & a marvaylous y{~MODIFIER\nLETTER SMALL E~} whyche myne aunceteres afore tyme dyd conveigh hider\nw{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL T~} y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL M~} ffrom Armoryke\nwh{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~} ys to {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}eien\nBritaine y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~} le{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e & a certayne holye clerke {~LATIN\nSMALL LETTER LONG S~}houlde allweyes beare my ffadir on honde\ny{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL T~} he owghte uttirly ffor to ffru{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}he y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL\nE~} {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ame affyrmynge y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL\nT~} yt was ffourmyd & confflatyd off {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}athanas hym {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}elffe by arte magike &\ndyvelly{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}he\nwherefore my ffadir dyd take y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~} {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}ame & to bra{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t yt yn tweyne\nbut I John de Vincey dyd {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ave whool\ny{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~} tweye p{~COMBINING MACRON~}tes therof &\ntopeecyd y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL M~} togydder agayne {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}oe as yee {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e on y{s} daye\nmondaye next ffolowynge after y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~} ffeeste of\n{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}eynte Marye y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~}\nble{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ed vyrgyne\nyn y{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL E~} yeere of {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}alvacioun ffowertene hundreth & ffyve & ffowrti.\"\n\n_Modernised Version of the above Black-Letter Translation._\n\n\"Thys rellike ys a ryghte mistycall worke and a marvaylous, ye whyche\nmyne aunceteres aforetyme dyd conveigh hider with them from Armoryke\nwhich ys to seien Britaine ye Lesse and a certayne holye clerke should\nallweyes beare my fadir on honde that he owghte uttirly for to frusshe\nye same, affyrmynge that yt was fourmed and conflatyed of Sathanas hym\nselfe by arte magike and dyvellysshe wherefore my fadir dyd take ye same\nand tobrast yt yn tweyne, but I, John de Vincey, dyd save whool ye tweye\npartes therof and topeecyd them togydder agayne soe as yee se, on this\ndaye mondaye next followynge after ye feeste of Seynte Marye ye Blessed\nVyrgyne yn ye yeere of Salvacioun fowertene hundreth and fyve and\nfowerti.\"\n\nThe next and, save one, last entry was Elizabethan, and dated 1564. \"A\nmost strange historie, and one that did cost my father his life; for in\nseekynge for the place upon the east coast of Africa, his pinnance\nwas sunk by a Portuguese galleon off Lorenzo Marquez, and he himself\nperished.--John Vincey.\"\n\nThen came the last entry, apparently, to judge by the style of\nwriting, made by some representative of the family in the middle of the\neighteenth century. It was a misquotation of the well-known lines in\nHamlet, and ran thus: \"There are more things in Heaven and earth than\nare dreamt of in your philosophy, Horatio.\"[*]\n\n     [*] Another thing that makes me fix the date of this entry\n     at the middle of the eighteenth century is that, curiously\n     enough, I have an acting copy of \"Hamlet,\" written about\n     1740, in which these two lines are misquoted almost exactly\n     in the same way, and I have little doubt but that the Vincey\n     who wrote them on the potsherd heard them so misquoted at\n     that date. Of course, the lines really run:--\n\n     There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,\n     Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.--L. H. H.\n\nAnd now there remained but one more document to be examined--namely, the\nancient black-letter transcription into mediæval Latin of the uncial\ninscription on the sherd. As will be seen, this translation was executed\nand subscribed in the year 1495, by a certain \"learned man,\" Edmundus\nde Prato (Edmund Pratt) by name, licentiate in Canon Law, of Exeter\nCollege, Oxford, who had actually been a pupil of Grocyn, the first\nscholar who taught Greek in England.[*] No doubt, on the fame of this\nnew learning reaching his ears, the Vincey of the day, perhaps that same\nJohn de Vincey who years before had saved the relic from destruction and\nmade the black-letter entry on the sherd in 1445, hurried off to\nOxford to see if perchance it might avail to dissolve the secret of\nthe mysterious inscription. Nor was he disappointed, for the learned\nEdmundus was equal to the task. Indeed his rendering is so excellent\nan example of mediæval learning and latinity that, even at the risk of\nsating the learned reader with too many antiquities, I have made up my\nmind to give it in fac-simile, together with an expanded version for the\nbenefit of those who find the contractions troublesome. The translation\nhas several peculiarities on which this is not the place to dwell, but I\nwould in passing call the attention of scholars to the passage \"duxerunt\nautem nos ad reginam _advenaslasaniscoronantium_,\" which strikes me as\na delightful rendering of the original, \"{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH\nPSILI AND OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER GAMMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER DELTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nEPSILON WITH VARIA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA WITH DASIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER BETA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA WITH\nOXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER LAMDA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}\n{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ETA WITH VARIA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA\nWITH PERISPOMENI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nXI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nNU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER CHI~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nRHO~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER IOTA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER FINAL SIGMA~} {~GREEK SMALL LETTER SIGMA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER EPSILON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER\nPHI~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER ALPHA~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER OMICRON~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER UPSILON WITH OXIA~}{~GREEK SMALL\nLETTER NU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER TAU~}{~GREEK SMALL LETTER OMEGA~}{~GREEK\nSMALL LETTER NU~}.\"\n\n     [*] Grocyn, the instructor of Erasmus, studied Greek under\n     Chalcondylas the Byzantine at Florence, and first lectured\n     in the Hall of Exeter College, Oxford, in 1491.--Editor.\n\n     _Mediæval Black-Letter Latin Translation of the Uncial\n     Inscription on the Sherd of Amenartas_\n\nAmenartas e gen. reg. Egyptii uxor Callicratis {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}acerdot{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} I{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}idis\nqua{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} dei fove{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}t demonia\natte{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}du{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}t filiol' {~LATIN\nSMALL LETTER LONG S~}uo Ti{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}i{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}theni ia{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} moribu{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}da ita ma{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}dat: Effugi quo{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}da{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} ex Egypto regna{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}te Nectanebo cu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} patre tuo, p{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}pter mei amore{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} pejerato. Fugie{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}tes aute{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} v'{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}us Notu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} trans mare et xxiiij me{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}es p'r litora Libye v'{~LATIN\nSMALL LETTER LONG S~}us Orie{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}te{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} errant{~COMBINING TILDE~} ubi e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t\npetra queda{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} m{~COMBINING TILDE~}gna {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}culpta in{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}tar\nEthiop{~COMBINING TILDE~} capit{~COMBINING TILDE~}, deinde dies iiij ab\no{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t{~COMBINING TILDE~} flum{~COMBINING\nTILDE~} m{~COMBINING TILDE~}gni eiecti p'tim {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}ubmer{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}i {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}umus\np'tim morbo mortui {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}um{~COMBINING TILDE~}:\nin fine aute{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} a fer{~COMBINING TILDE~}\nho{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}i{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}bs portabamur\np{~COMBINING TILDE~}r palud{~COMBINING TILDE~} et vada. ubi\naviu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} m'titudo celu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nobu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}brat dies x. donec advenim{~COMBINING TILDE~}\nad cavu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} que{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}da{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} monte{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}, ubi olim m{~COMBINING TILDE~}gna\nurbs erat, caverne quoq{~COMBINING TILDE~} im{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}e{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e:\nduxeru{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}t aute{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} nos ad\nregina{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} Advena{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}la{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ani{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}corona{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}tiu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} que\nmagic{~COMBINING TILDE~} utebat{~COMBINING TILDE~} et peritia\nomniu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} rer{~COMBINING TILDE~} et {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}alte{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} pulcrit{~COMBINING TILDE~} et\nvigore i{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}cibil' erat. Hec m{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}gno patr{~COMBINING TILDE~} tui amore p{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}cul{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}a p'mu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nq'de{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} ei con{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ubiu{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} michi morte{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} parabat. po{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}tea v'ro recu{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}a{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}te Callicrate amore mei et timore regine affecto nos\np{~COMBINING TILDE~}r magica{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} abduxit p'r vias\nhorribil' ubi e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t puteus ille p{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}fu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}dus, cuius iuxta aditu{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} iacebat {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}enior{~COMBINING TILDE~}\nphilo{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ophi cadaver, et adve{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}ie{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}tib{~COMBINING TILDE~} mo{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}travit flam{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}a{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} Vite erecta{~COMBINING OVERLINE~},\ni{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}star columne voluta{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}tis,\nvoces emitte{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}te{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} q{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}i tonitrus: tu{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}c p{~COMBINING TILDE~}r igne{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\ni{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}petu nociuo expers tra{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}iit et ia{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nipsa {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e\nformo{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}ior vi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}a\ne{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t.\n\nQuib{~COMBINING TILDE~} fact{~COMBINING TILDE~} iuravit {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}e patre{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} tuu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nquoq{~COMBINING TILDE~} im{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ortale{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} o{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}te{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}{~LATIN\nSMALL LETTER LONG S~}ura{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER\nLONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e, {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}i\nme prius occi{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}a regine co{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}tuberniu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} mallet; neq{~COMBINING TILDE~}\neni{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} ip{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}a me occidere\nvaluit, p{~COMBINING TILDE~}pter no{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}tratu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} m{~COMBINING TILDE~}gica{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} cuius egomet p{~COMBINING TILDE~}tem habeo. Ille vero nichil\nhuius geñ maluit, manib ante ocul{~COMBINING TILDE~} pa{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}is ne mulier{~COMBINING\nTILDE~} formo{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}itate{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nad{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}piceret: po{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}tea eu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} m{~COMBINING TILDE~}gica p{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}cu{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}it\narte, at mortuu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} efferebat i{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}de cu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} fletib{~COMBINING TILDE~} et\nvagitib{~COMBINING TILDE~}, me p{~COMBINING TILDE~}r timore{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} expulit ad o{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}tiu{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} m{~COMBINING TILDE~}gni flumiñ veliuoli porro in nave in qua\nte peperi, uix po{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t dies hvc Athenas invecta\n{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}u{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}. At tu, O Ti{~LATIN\nSMALL LETTER LONG S~}i{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}theñ, ne q'd\nquoru{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} ma{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}do nauci fac:\nnece{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}e\neni{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} e{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}t\nmuliere{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} exquirere {~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}i\nqva Vite my{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}teriu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\ni{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}petres et vi{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}dicare,\nqua{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}tu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} in te e{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}t, patre{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} tuu{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}\nCallierat{~COMBINING TILDE~} in regine morte. Sin timore {~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}ue aliq{~COMBINING TILDE~} cav{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}a re{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} reli{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}quis\ni{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}fecta{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}, hoc ip{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}u{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} oi{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}b{~COMBINING TILDE~} po{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG\nS~}ter{~COMBINING TILDE~} ma{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}do du{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~} bonvs q{~COMBINING TILDE~}s inveniatur qvi ignis\nlauacru{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} no{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} p{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}rhorre{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}cet et p{~COMBINING\nTILDE~}tentia digñ do{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}i{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}abit{~COMBINING TILDE~} ho{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}i{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}u{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}.\n\nTalia dico incredibilia q{~COMBINING TILDE~}de{~COMBINING OVERLINE~} at\nmin{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}e ñcta de reb{~COMBINING TILDE~} michi\ncognitis.\n\nHec Grece scripta Latine reddidit vir doctus Edm{~COMBINING OVERLINE~}ds\nde Prato, in Decretis Licenciatus e Coll. Exon: Oxon: docti{~LATIN SMALL\nLETTER LONG S~}{~LATIN SMALL LETTER LONG S~}imi Grocyni quondam e\npupillis, Id. Apr. A{~MODIFIER LETTER SMALL O~}. Dn{~COMBINING\nOVERLINE~}i. MCCCCLXXXXV°.\n\n_Expanded Version of the above Mediæval Latin Translation_\n\nAmenartas, e genere regio Egyptii, uxor Callicratis, sacerdotis Isidis,\nquam dei fovent demonia attendunt, filiolo suo Tisistheni jam moribunda\nita mandat: Effugi quodam ex Egypto, regnante Nectanebo, cum patre tuo,\npropter mei amorem pejerato. Fugientes autem versus Notum trans mare,\net viginti quatuor menses per litora Libye versus Orientem errantes,\nubi est petra quedam magna sculpta instar Ethiopis capitis, deinde dies\nquatuor ab ostio fluminis magni ejecti partim submersi sumus partim\nmorbo mortui sumus: in fine autem a feris hominibus portabamur per\npaludes et vada, ubi avium multitudo celum obumbrat, dies decem, donec\nadvenimus ad cavum quendam montem, ubi olim magna urbs erat, caverne\nquoque immense; duxerunt autem nos ad reginam Advenaslasaniscoronantium,\nque magicâ utebatur et peritiá omnium rerum, et saltem pulcritudine et\nvigore insenescibilis erat. Hec magno patris tui amore perculsa,\nprimum quidem ei connubium michi mortem parabat; postea vero, recusante\nCallicrate, amore mei et timore regine affecto, nos per magicam abduxit\nper vias horribiles ubi est puteus ille profundus, cujus juxta aditum\njacebat senioris philosophi cadaver, et advenientibus monstravit\nflammam Vite erectam, instar columne voluntantis, voces emittentem quasi\ntonitrus: tunc per ignem impetu nocivo expers transiit et jam ipsa sese\nformosior visa est.\n\nQuibus factis juravit se patrem tuum quoque immortalem ostensuram\nesse, si me prius occisa regine contubernium mallet; neque enim ipsa me\noccidere valuit, propter nostratum magicam cujus egomet partem habeo.\nIlle vero nichil hujus generis malebat, manibus ante oculos passis, ne\nmulieris formositatem adspiceret: postea illum magica percussit arte,\nat mortuum efferebat inde cum fletibus et vagitibus, et me per timorem\nexpulit ad ostium magni fluminis, velivoli, porro in nave, in qua te\npeperi, vix post dies huc Athenas vecta sum. At tu, O Tisisthenes, ne\nquid quorum mando nauci fac: necesse enim est mulierem exquirere si qua\nVite mysterium impetres et vindicare, quautum in te est, patrem tuum\nCallieratem in regine morte. Sin timore sue aliqua causa rem reliquis\ninfectam, hoc ipsum omnibus posteris mando, dum bonus quis inveniatur\nqui ignis lavacrum non perhorrescet, et potentia dignus dominabitur\nhominum.\n\nTalia dico incredibilia quidem at minime ficta de rebus michi cognitis.\n\nHec Grece scripta Latine reddidit vir doctus Edmundus de Prato, in\nDescretis Licenciatus, e Collegio Exoniensi Oxoniensi doctissimi Grocyni\nquondam e pupillis, Idibus Aprilis Anno Domini MCCCCLXXXXV°.\n\n\"Well,\" I said, when at length I had read out and carefully examined\nthese writings and paragraphs, at least those of them that were still\neasily legible, \"that is the conclusion of the whole matter, Leo, and\nnow you can form your own opinion on it. I have already formed mine.\"\n\n\"And what is it?\" he asked, in his quick way.\n\n\"It is this. I believe that potsherd to be perfectly genuine, and that,\nwonderful as it may seem, it has come down in your family from since\nthe fourth century before Christ. The entries absolutely prove it, and\ntherefore, however improbable it may seem, it must be accepted. But\nthere I stop. That your remote ancestress, the Egyptian princess, or\nsome scribe under her direction, wrote that which we see on the sherd\nI have no doubt, nor have I the slightest doubt but that her sufferings\nand the loss of her husband had turned her head, and that she was not\nright in her mind when she did write it.\"\n\n\"How do you account for what my father saw and heard there?\" asked Leo.\n\n\"Coincidence. No doubt there are bluffs on the coast of Africa that\nlook something like a man's head, and plenty of people who speak bastard\nArabic. Also, I believe that there are lots of swamps. Another thing\nis, Leo, and I am sorry to say it, but I do not believe that your poor\nfather was quite right when he wrote that letter. He had met with\na great trouble, and also he had allowed this story to prey on his\nimagination, and he was a very imaginative man. Anyway, I believe that\nthe whole thing is the most unmitigated rubbish. I know that there are\ncurious things and forces in nature which we rarely meet with, and, when\nwe do meet them, cannot understand. But until I see it with my own eyes,\nwhich I am not likely to, I never will believe that there is any means\nof avoiding death, even for a time, or that there is or was a white\nsorceress living in the heart of an African swamp. It is bosh, my boy,\nall bosh!--What do you say, Job?\"\n\n\"I say, sir, that it is a lie, and, if it is true, I hope Mr. Leo won't\nmeddle with no such things, for no good can't come of it.\"\n\n\"Perhaps you are both right,\" said Leo, very quietly. \"I express no\nopinion. But I say this. I am going to set the matter at rest once and\nfor all, and if you won't come with me I will go by myself.\"\n\nI looked at the young man, and saw that he meant what he said. When Leo\nmeans what he says he always puts on a curious look about the mouth. It\nhas been a trick of his from a child. Now, as a matter of fact, I had no\nintention of allowing Leo to go anywhere by himself, for my own sake, if\nnot for his. I was far too attached to him for that. I am not a man\nof many ties or affections. Circumstances have been against me in this\nrespect, and men and women shrink from me, or at least, I fancy that\nthey do, which comes to the same thing, thinking, perhaps, that my\nsomewhat forbidding exterior is a key to my character. Rather than\nendure this, I have, to a great extent, secluded myself from the world,\nand cut myself off from those opportunities which with most men result\nin the formation of relations more or less intimate. Therefore Leo was\nall the world to me--brother, child, and friend--and until he wearied of\nme, where he went there I should go too. But, of course, it would not do\nto let him see how great a hold he had over me; so I cast about for some\nmeans whereby I might let myself down easy.\n\n\"Yes, I shall go, Uncle; and if I don't find the 'rolling Pillar of\nLife,' at any rate I shall get some first-class shooting.\"\n\nHere was my opportunity, and I took it.\n\n\"Shooting?\" I said. \"Ah! yes; I never thought of that. It must be a very\nwild stretch of country, and full of big game. I have always wanted to\nkill a buffalo before I die. Do you know, my boy, I don't believe in the\nquest, but I do believe in big game, and really on the whole, if, after\nthinking it over, you make up your mind to go, I will take a holiday,\nand come with you.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said Leo, \"I thought that you would not lose such a chance. But\nhow about money? We shall want a good lot.\"\n\n\"You need not trouble about that,\" I answered. \"There is all your income\nthat has been accumulating for years, and besides that I have saved\ntwo-thirds of what your father left to me, as I consider, in trust for\nyou. There is plenty of cash.\"\n\n\"Very well, then, we may as well stow these things away and go up to\ntown to see about our guns. By the way, Job, are you coming too? It's\ntime you began to see the world.\"\n\n\"Well, sir,\" answered Job, stolidly, \"I don't hold much with foreign\nparts, but if both you gentlemen are going you will want somebody to\nlook after you, and I am not the man to stop behind after serving you\nfor twenty years.\"\n\n\"That's right, Job,\" said I. \"You won't find out anything wonderful, but\nyou will get some good shooting. And now look here, both of you. I won't\nhave a word said to a living soul about this nonsense,\" and I pointed\nto the potsherd. \"If it got out, and anything happened to me, my next of\nkin would dispute my will on the ground of insanity, and I should become\nthe laughing stock of Cambridge.\"\n\nThat day three months we were on the ocean, bound for Zanzibar.\n\n\n\nIV\n\nTHE SQUALL\n\nHow different is the scene that I have now to tell from that which has\njust been told! Gone are the quiet college rooms, gone the wind-swayed\nEnglish elms, the cawing rooks, and the familiar volumes on the shelves,\nand in their place there rises a vision of the great calm ocean gleaming\nin shaded silver lights beneath the beams of the full African moon. A\ngentle breeze fills the huge sail of our dhow, and draws us through\nthe water that ripples musically against her sides. Most of the men are\nsleeping forward, for it is near midnight, but a stout swarthy Arab,\nMahomed by name, stands at the tiller, lazily steering by the stars.\nThree miles or more to our starboard is a low dim line. It is the\nEastern shore of Central Africa. We are running to the southward, before\nthe North East Monsoon, between the mainland and the reef that for\nhundreds of miles fringes this perilous coast. The night is quiet, so\nquiet that a whisper can be heard fore and aft the dhow; so quiet that a\nfaint booming sound rolls across the water to us from the distant land.\n\nThe Arab at the tiller holds up his hand, and says one word:--\"_Simba_\n(lion)!\"\n\nWe all sit up and listen. Then it comes again, a slow, majestic sound,\nthat thrills us to the marrow.\n\n\"To-morrow by ten o'clock,\" I say, \"we ought, if the Captain is not out\nin his reckoning, which I think very probable, to make this mysterious\nrock with a man's head, and begin our shooting.\"\n\n\"And begin our search for the ruined city and the Fire of Life,\"\ncorrected Leo, taking his pipe from his mouth, and laughing a little.\n\n\"Nonsense!\" I answered. \"You were airing your Arabic with that man at\nthe tiller this afternoon. What did he tell you? He has been trading\n(slave-trading, probably) up and down these latitudes for half of his\niniquitous life, and once landed on this very 'man' rock. Did he ever\nhear anything of the ruined city or the caves?\"\n\n\"No,\" answered Leo. \"He says that the country is all swamp behind, and\nfull of snakes, especially pythons, and game, and that no man lives\nthere. But then there is a belt of swamp all along the East African\ncoast, so that does not go for much.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, \"it does--it goes for malaria. You see what sort of an\nopinion these gentry have of the country. Not one of them will go with\nus. They think that we are mad, and upon my word I believe that they are\nright. If ever we see old England again I shall be astonished. However,\nit does not greatly matter to me at my age, but I am anxious for you,\nLeo, and for Job. It's a Tom Fool's business, my boy.\"\n\n\"All right, Uncle Horace. So far as I am concerned, I am willing to take\nmy chance. Look! What is that cloud?\" and he pointed to a dark blotch\nupon the starry sky, some miles astern of us.\n\n\"Go and ask the man at the tiller,\" I said.\n\nHe rose, stretched his arms, and went. Presently he returned.\n\n\"He says it is a squall, but it will pass far on one side of us.\"\n\nJust then Job came up, looking very stout and English in his\nshooting-suit of brown flannel, and with a sort of perplexed appearance\nupon his honest round face that had been very common with him since he\ngot into these strange waters.\n\n\"Please, sir,\" he said, touching his sun hat, which was stuck on to the\nback of his head in a somewhat ludicrous fashion, \"as we have got all\nthose guns and things in the whale-boat astern, to say nothing of the\nprovisions in the lockers, I think it would be best if I got down and\nslept in her. I don't like the looks\" (here he dropped his voice to a\nportentous whisper) \"of these black gentry; they have such a wonderful\nthievish way about them. Supposing now that some of them were to slip\ninto the boat at night and cut the cable, and make off with her? That\nwould be a pretty go, that would.\"\n\nThe whale-boat, I may explain, was one specially built for us at Dundee,\nin Scotland. We had brought it with us, as we knew that this coast was a\nnetwork of creeks, and that we might require something to navigate\nthem with. She was a beautiful boat, thirty-feet in length, with a\ncentre-board for sailing, copper-bottomed to keep the worm out of her,\nand full of water-tight compartments. The Captain of the dhow had told\nus that when we reached the rock, which he knew, and which appeared to\nbe identical with the one described upon the sherd and by Leo's father,\nhe would probably not be able to run up to it on account of the shallows\nand breakers. Therefore we had employed three hours that very morning,\nwhilst we were totally becalmed, the wind having dropped at sunrise,\nin transferring most of our goods and chattels to the whale-boat,\nand placing the guns, ammunition, and preserved provisions in the\nwater-tight lockers specially prepared for them, so that when we did\nsight the fabled rock we should have nothing to do but step into the\nboat, and run her ashore. Another reason that induced us to take this\nprecautionary step was that Arab captains are apt to run past the point\nthat they are making, either from carelessness or owing to a mistake in\nits identity. Now, as sailors know, it is quite impossible for a dhow\nwhich is only rigged to run before the monsoon to beat back against it.\nTherefore we got our boat ready to row for the rock at any moment.\n\n\"Well, Job,\" I said, \"perhaps it would be as well. There are lots of\nblankets there, only be careful to keep out of the moon, or it may turn\nyour head or blind you.\"\n\n\"Lord, sir! I don't think it would much matter if it did; it is that\nturned already with the sight of these blackamoors and their filthy,\nthieving ways. They are only fit for muck, they are; and they smell bad\nenough for it already.\"\n\nJob, it will be perceived, was no admirer of the manners and customs of\nour dark-skinned brothers.\n\nAccordingly we hauled up the boat by the tow-rope till it was right\nunder the stern of the dhow, and Job bundled into her with all the grace\nof a falling sack of potatoes. Then we returned and sat down on the deck\nagain, and smoked and talked in little gusts and jerks. The night was so\nlovely, and our brains were so full of suppressed excitement of one sort\nand another, that we did not feel inclined to turn in. For nearly an\nhour we sat thus, and then, I think, we both dozed off. At least I have\na faint recollection of Leo sleepily explaining that the head was not a\nbad place to hit a buffalo, if you could catch him exactly between the\nhorns, or send your bullet down his throat, or some nonsense of the\nsort.\n\nThen I remember no more; till suddenly--a frightful roar of wind, a\nshriek of terror from the awakening crew, and a whip-like sting of water\nin our faces. Some of the men ran to let go the haulyards and lower the\nsail, but the parrel jammed and the yard would not come down. I sprang\nto my feet and hung on to a rope. The sky aft was dark as pitch, but the\nmoon still shone brightly ahead of us and lit up the blackness. Beneath\nits sheen a huge white-topped breaker, twenty feet high or more, was\nrushing on to us. It was on the break--the moon shone on its crest and\ntipped its foam with light. On it rushed beneath the inky sky, driven by\nthe awful squall behind it. Suddenly, in the twinkling of an eye, I saw\nthe black shape of the whale-boat cast high into the air on the crest of\nthe breaking wave. Then--a shock of water, a wild rush of boiling foam,\nand I was clinging for my life to the shroud, ay, swept straight out\nfrom it like a flag in a gale.\n\nWe were pooped.\n\nThe wave passed. It seemed to me that I was under water for\nminutes--really it was seconds. I looked forward. The blast had torn out\nthe great sail, and high in the air it was fluttering away to leeward\nlike a huge wounded bird. Then for a moment there was comparative calm,\nand in it I heard Job's voice yelling wildly, \"Come here to the boat.\"\n\nBewildered and half-drowned as I was, I had the sense to rush aft. I\nfelt the dhow sinking under me--she was full of water. Under her counter\nthe whale-boat was tossing furiously, and I saw the Arab Mahomed, who\nhad been steering, leap into her. I gave one desperate pull at the\ntow-rope to bring the boat alongside. Wildly I sprang also, Job caught\nme by the arm and I rolled into the bottom of the boat. Down went the\ndhow bodily, and as she did so Mahomed drew his curved knife and severed\nthe fibre-rope by which we were fast to her, and in another second we\nwere driving before the storm over the place where the dhow had been.\n\n\"Great God!\" I shrieked, \"where is Leo? _Leo! Leo!_\"\n\n\"He's gone, sir, God help him!\" roared Job into my ear; and such was the\nfury of the squall that his voice sounded like a whisper.\n\nI wrung my hands in agony. Leo was drowned, and I was left alive to\nmourn him.\n\n\"Look out,\" yelled Job; \"here comes another.\"\n\nI turned; a second huge wave was overtaking us. I half hoped that it\nwould drown me. With a curious fascination I watched its awful advent.\nThe moon was nearly hidden now by the wreaths of the rushing storm, but\na little light still caught the crest of the devouring breaker. There\nwas something dark on it--a piece of wreckage. It was on us now, and\nthe boat was nearly full of water. But she was built in air-tight\ncompartments--Heaven bless the man who invented them!--and lifted up\nthrough it like a swan. Through the foam and turmoil I saw the black\nthing on the wave hurrying right at me. I put out my right arm to ward\nit from me, and my hand closed on another arm, the wrist of which my\nfingers gripped like a vice. I am a very strong man, and had something\nto hold to, but my arm was nearly torn from its socket by the strain and\nweight of the floating body. Had the rush lasted another two seconds I\nmight either have let go or gone with it. But it passed, leaving us up\nto our knees in water.\n\n\"Bail out! bail out!\" shouted Job, suiting the action to the word.\n\nBut I could not bail just then, for as the moon went out and left us in\ntotal darkness, one faint, flying ray of light lit upon the face of the\nman I had gripped, who was now half lying, half floating in the bottom\nof the boat.\n\nIt was Leo. Leo brought back by the wave--back, dead or alive, from the\nvery jaws of Death.\n\n\"Bail out! bail out!\" yelled Job, \"or we shall founder.\"\n\nI seized a large tin bowl with a handle to it, which was fixed under one\nof the seats, and the three of us bailed away for dear life. The furious\ntempest drove over and round us, flinging the boat this way and that,\nthe wind and the storm wreaths and the sheets of stinging spray blinded\nand bewildered us, but through it all we worked like demons with the\nwild exhilaration of despair, for even despair can exhilarate. One\nminute! three minutes! six minutes! The boat began to lighten, and no\nfresh wave swamped us. Five minutes more, and she was fairly clear.\nThen, suddenly, above the awful shriekings of the hurricane came a\nduller, deeper roar. Great Heavens! It was the voice of breakers!\n\nAt that moment the moon began to shine forth again--this time behind the\npath of the squall. Out far across the torn bosom of the ocean shot the\nragged arrows of her light, and there, half a mile ahead of us, was a\nwhite line of foam, then a little space of open-mouthed blackness, and\nthen another line of white. It was the breakers, and their roar grew\nclearer and yet more clear as we sped down upon them like a swallow.\nThere they were, boiling up in snowy spouts of spray, smiting and\ngnashing together like the gleaming teeth of hell.\n\n\"Take the tiller, Mahomed!\" I roared in Arabic. \"We must try and shoot\nthem.\" At the same moment I seized an oar, and got it out, motioning to\nJob to do likewise.\n\nMahomed clambered aft, and got hold of the tiller, and with some\ndifficulty Job, who had sometimes pulled a tub upon the homely Cam, got\nout his oar. In another minute the boat's head was straight on to the\never-nearing foam, towards which she plunged and tore with the speed\nof a racehorse. Just in front of us the first line of breakers seemed\na little thinner than to the right or left--there was a cap of rather\ndeeper water. I turned and pointed to it.\n\n\"Steer for your life, Mahomed!\" I yelled. He was a skilful steersman,\nand well acquainted with the dangers of this most perilous coast, and I\nsaw him grip the tiller, bend his heavy frame forward, and stare at the\nfoaming terror till his big round eyes looked as though they would start\nout of his head. The send of the sea was driving the boat's head round\nto starboard. If we struck the line of breakers fifty yards to starboard\nof the gap we must sink. It was a great field of twisting, spouting\nwaves. Mahomed planted his foot against the seat before him, and,\nglancing at him, I saw his brown toes spread out like a hand with the\nweight he put upon them as he took the strain of the tiller. She came\nround a bit, but not enough. I roared to Job to back water, whilst I\ndragged and laboured at my oar. She answered now, and none too soon.\n\nHeavens, we were in them! And then followed a couple of minutes of\nheart-breaking excitement such as I cannot hope to describe. All that I\nremember is a shrieking sea of foam, out of which the billows rose here,\nthere, and everywhere like avenging ghosts from their ocean grave. Once\nwe were turned right round, but either by chance, or through Mahomed's\nskilful steering, the boat's head came straight again before a breaker\nfilled us. One more--a monster. We were through it or over it--more\nthrough than over--and then, with a wild yell of exultation from the\nArab, we shot out into the comparative smooth water of the mouth of sea\nbetween the teeth-like lines of gnashing waves.\n\nBut we were nearly full of water again, and not more than half a mile\nahead was the second line of breakers. Again we set to and bailed\nfuriously. Fortunately the storm had now quite gone by, and the moon\nshone brightly, revealing a rocky headland running half a mile or more\nout into the sea, of which this second line of breakers appeared to be\na continuation. At any rate, they boiled around its foot. Probably the\nridge that formed the headland ran out into the ocean, only at a lower\nlevel, and made the reef also. This headland was terminated by a curious\npeak that seemed not to be more than a mile away from us. Just as we got\nthe boat pretty clear for the second time, Leo, to my immense relief,\nopened his eyes and remarked that the clothes had tumbled off the bed,\nand that he supposed it was time to get up for chapel. I told him to\nshut his eyes and keep quiet, which he did without in the slightest\ndegree realizing the position. As for myself, his reference to chapel\nmade me reflect, with a sort of sick longing, on my comfortable rooms\nat Cambridge. Why had I been such a fool as to leave them? This is a\nreflection that has several times recurred to me since, and with an\never-increasing force.\n\nBut now again we were drifting down on the breakers, though with\nlessened speed, for the wind had fallen, and only the current or the\ntide (it afterwards turned out to be the tide) was driving us.\n\nAnother minute, and with a sort of howl to Allah from the Arab, a pious\nejaculation from myself, and something that was not pious from Job,\nwe were in them. And then the whole scene, down to our final escape,\nrepeated itself, only not quite so violently. Mahomed's skilful steering\nand the air-tight compartments saved our lives. In five minutes we were\nthrough, and drifting--for we were too exhausted to do anything to\nhelp ourselves except keep her head straight--with the most startling\nrapidity round the headland which I have described.\n\nRound we went with the tide, until we got well under the lee of the\npoint, and then suddenly the speed slackened, we ceased to make way,\nand finally appeared to be in dead water. The storm had entirely passed,\nleaving a clean-washed sky behind it; the headland intercepted the heavy\nsea that had been occasioned by the squall, and the tide, which had\nbeen running so fiercely up the river (for we were now in the mouth of a\nriver), was sluggish before it turned, so we floated quietly, and before\nthe moon went down managed to bail out the boat thoroughly and get her\na little ship-shape. Leo was sleeping profoundly, and on the whole I\nthought it wise not to wake him. It was true he was sleeping in wet\nclothes, but the night was now so warm that I thought (and so did Job)\nthat they were not likely to injure a man of his unusually vigorous\nconstitution. Besides, we had no dry ones at hand.\n\nPresently the moon went down, and left us floating on the waters, now\nonly heaving like some troubled woman's breast, with leisure to reflect\nupon all that we had gone through and all that we had escaped. Job\nstationed himself at the bow, Mahomed kept his post at the tiller, and I\nsat on a seat in the middle of the boat close to where Leo was lying.\n\nThe moon went slowly down in chastened loveliness; she departed like\nsome sweet bride into her chamber, and long veil-like shadows crept up\nthe sky through which the stars peeped shyly out. Soon, however, they\ntoo began to pale before a splendour in the east, and then the quivering\nfootsteps of the dawn came rushing across the new-born blue, and shook\nthe high stars from their places. Quieter and yet more quiet grew the\nsea, quiet as the soft mist that brooded on her bosom, and covered up\nher troubling, as the illusive wreaths of sleep brood upon a pain-racked\nmind, causing it to forget its sorrow. From the east to the west\nsped the angels of the Dawn, from sea to sea, from mountain-top to\nmountain-top, scattering light with both their hands. On they sped out\nof the darkness, perfect, glorious, like spirits of the just breaking\nfrom the tomb; on, over the quiet sea, over the low coastline, and the\nswamps beyond, and the mountains above them; over those who slept in\npeace and those who woke in sorrow; over the evil and the good; over the\nliving and the dead; over the wide world and all that breathes or has\nbreathed thereon.\n\nIt was a wonderfully beautiful sight, and yet sad, perhaps, from the\nvery excess of its beauty. The arising sun; the setting sun! There we\nhave the symbol and the type of humanity, and all things with which\nhumanity has to do. The symbol and the type, yes, and the earthly\nbeginning, and the end also. And on that morning this came home to me\nwith a peculiar force. The sun that rose to-day for us had set last\nnight for eighteen of our fellow-voyagers!--had set everlastingly for\neighteen whom we knew!\n\nThe dhow had gone down with them, they were tossing about among the\nrocks and seaweed, so much human drift on the great ocean of Death! And\nwe four were saved. But one day a sunrise will come when we shall be\namong those who are lost, and then others will watch those glorious\nrays, and grow sad in the midst of beauty, and dream of Death in the\nfull glow of arising Life!\n\nFor this is the lot of man.\n\n\n\nV\n\nTHE HEAD OF THE ETHIOPIAN\n\nAt length the heralds and forerunners of the royal sun had done their\nwork, and, searching out the shadows, had caused them to flee away.\nThen up he came in glory from his ocean-bed, and flooded the earth\nwith warmth and light. I sat there in the boat listening to the gentle\nlapping of the water and watched him rise, till presently the slight\ndrift of the boat brought the odd-shaped rock, or peak, at the end of\nthe promontory which we had weathered with so much peril, between me\nand the majestic sight, and blotted it from my view. I still continued,\nhowever, to stare at the rock, absently enough, till presently it became\nedged with the fire of the growing light behind it, and then I started,\nas well I might, for I perceived that the top of the peak, which was\nabout eighty feet high by one hundred and fifty feet thick at its base,\nwas shaped like a negro's head and face, whereon was stamped a most\nfiendish and terrifying expression. There was no doubt about it; there\nwere the thick lips, the fat cheeks, and the squat nose standing out\nwith startling clearness against the flaming background. There, too, was\nthe round skull, washed into shape perhaps by thousands of years of\nwind and weather, and, to complete the resemblance, there was a scrubby\ngrowth of weeds or lichen upon it, which against the sun looked for all\nthe world like the wool on a colossal negro's head. It certainly was\nvery odd; so odd that now I believe it is not a mere freak of nature but\na gigantic monument fashioned, like the well-known Egyptian Sphinx, by a\nforgotten people out of a pile of rock that lent itself to their\ndesign, perhaps as an emblem of warning and defiance to any enemies who\napproached the harbour. Unfortunately we were never able to ascertain\nwhether or not this was the case, inasmuch as the rock was difficult of\naccess both from the land and the waterside, and we had other things\nto attend to. Myself, considering the matter by the light of what we\nafterwards saw, I believe that it was fashioned by man, but whether or\nnot this is so, there it stands, and sullenly stares from age to age out\nacross the changing sea--there it stood two thousand years and more\nago, when Amenartas, the Egyptian princess, and the wife of Leo's remote\nancestor Kallikrates, gazed upon its devilish face--and there I have no\ndoubt it will still stand when as many centuries as are numbered between\nher day and our own are added to the year that bore us to oblivion.\n\n\"What do you think of that, Job?\" I asked of our retainer, who was\nsitting on the edge of the boat, trying to get as much sunshine as\npossible, and generally looking uncommonly wretched, and I pointed to\nthe fiery and demonical head.\n\n\"Oh Lord, sir,\" answered Job, who now perceived the object for the first\ntime, \"I think that the old geneleman must have been sitting for his\nportrait on them rocks.\"\n\nI laughed, and the laugh woke up Leo.\n\n\"Hullo,\" he said, \"what's the matter with me? I am all stiff--where is\nthe dhow? Give me some brandy, please.\"\n\n\"You may be thankful that you are not stiffer, my boy,\" I answered. \"The\ndhow is sunk, everybody on board her is drowned with the exception of\nus four, and your own life was only saved by a miracle\"; and whilst Job,\nnow that it was light enough, searched about in a locker for the brandy\nfor which Leo asked, I told him the history of our night's adventure.\n\n\"Great Heavens!\" he said faintly; \"and to think that we should have been\nchosen to live through it!\"\n\nBy this time the brandy was forthcoming, and we all had a good pull at\nit, and thankful enough we were for it. Also the sun was beginning to\nget strength, and warm our chilled bones, for we had been wet through\nfor five hours or more.\n\n\"Why,\" said Leo, with a gasp as he put down the brandy bottle, \"there\nis the head the writing talks of, the 'rock carven like the head of an\nEthiopian.'\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, \"there it is.\"\n\n\"Well, then,\" he answered, \"the whole thing is true.\"\n\n\"I don't see at all that that follows,\" I answered. \"We knew this head\nwas here: your father saw it. Very likely it is not the same head that\nthe writing talks of; or if it is, it proves nothing.\"\n\nLeo smiled at me in a superior way. \"You are an unbelieving Jew, Uncle\nHorace,\" he said. \"Those who live will see.\"\n\n\"Exactly so,\" I answered, \"and now perhaps you will observe that we are\ndrifting across a sandbank into the mouth of the river. Get hold of your\noar, Job, and we will row in and see if we can find a place to land.\"\n\nThe river mouth which we were entering did not appear to be a very wide\none, though as yet the long banks of steaming mist that clung about\nits shores had not lifted sufficiently to enable us to see its exact\nmeasure. There was, as is the case with nearly every East African river,\na considerable bar at the mouth, which, no doubt, when the wind was on\nshore and the tide running out, was absolutely impassable even for a\nboat drawing only a few inches. But as things were it was manageable\nenough, and we did not ship a cupful of water. In twenty minutes we were\nwell across it, with but slight assistance from ourselves, and being\ncarried by a strong though somewhat variable breeze well up the harbour.\nBy this time the mist was being sucked up by the sun, which was getting\nuncomfortably hot, and we saw that the mouth of the little estuary was\nhere about half a mile across, and that the banks were very marshy, and\ncrowded with crocodiles lying about on the mud like logs. About a mile\nahead of us, however, was what appeared to be a strip of firm land, and\nfor this we steered. In another quarter of an hour we were there, and\nmaking the boat fast to a beautiful tree with broad shining leaves, and\nflowers of the magnolia species, only they were rose-coloured and\nnot white,[*] which hung over the water, we disembarked. This done we\nundressed, washed ourselves, and spread our clothes, together with the\ncontents of the boat, in the sun to dry, which they very quickly did.\nThen, taking shelter from the sun under some trees, we made a hearty\nbreakfast off a \"Paysandu\" potted tongue, of which we had brought a good\nquantity with us, congratulating ourselves loudly on our good fortune\nin having loaded and provisioned the boat on the previous day before the\nhurricane destroyed the dhow. By the time that we had finished our meal\nour clothes were quite dry, and we hastened to get into them, feeling\nnot a little refreshed. Indeed, with the exception of weariness and\na few bruises, none of us were the worse for the terrifying adventure\nwhich had been fatal to all our companions. Leo, it is true, had been\nhalf-drowned, but that is no great matter to a vigorous young athlete of\nfive-and-twenty.\n\n     [*] There is a known species of magnolia with pink flowers.\n     It is indigenous in Sikkim, and known as _Magnolia\n     Campbellii_.--Editor.\n\nAfter breakfast we started to look about us. We were on a strip of dry\nland about two hundred yards broad by five hundred long, bordered on one\nside by the river, and on the other three by endless desolate swamps,\nthat stretched as far as the eye could reach. This strip of land was\nraised about twenty-five feet above the plain of the surrounding swamps\nand the river level: indeed it had every appearance of having been made\nby the hand of man.\n\n\"This place has been a wharf,\" said Leo, dogmatically.\n\n\"Nonsense,\" I answered. \"Who would be stupid enough to build a wharf\nin the middle of these dreadful marshes in a country inhabited by\nsavages--that is, if it is inhabited at all?\"\n\n\"Perhaps it was not always marsh, and perhaps the people were not\nalways savage,\" he said drily, looking down the steep bank, for we were\nstanding by the river. \"Look there,\" he went on, pointing to a spot\nwhere the hurricane of the previous night had torn up one of the\nmagnolia trees by the roots, which had grown on the extreme edge of the\nbank just where it sloped down to the water, and lifted a large cake of\nearth with them. \"Is not that stonework? If not, it is very like it.\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" I said again, but we clambered down to the spot, and got\nbetween the upturned roots and the bank.\n\n\"Well?\" he said.\n\nBut I did not answer this time. I only whistled. For there, laid bare by\nthe removal of the earth, was an undoubted facing of solid stone laid in\nlarge blocks and bound together with brown cement, so hard that I could\nmake no impression on it with the file in my shooting-knife. Nor was\nthis all; seeing something projecting through the soil at the bottom of\nthe bared patch of walling, I removed the loose earth with my hands, and\nrevealed a huge stone ring, a foot or more in diameter, and about three\ninches thick. This fairly staggered me.\n\n\"Looks rather like a wharf where good-sized vessels have been moored,\ndoes it not, Uncle Horace?\" said Leo, with an excited grin.\n\nI tried to say \"Nonsense\" again, but the word stuck in my throat--the\nring spoke for itself. In some past age vessels _had_ been moored there,\nand this stone wall was undoubtedly the remnant of a solidly constructed\nwharf. Probably the city to which it had belonged lay buried beneath the\nswamp behind it.\n\n\"Begins to look as though there were something in the story after all,\nUncle Horace,\" said the exultant Leo; and reflecting on the mysterious\nnegro's head and the equally mysterious stonework, I made no direct\nreply.\n\n\"A country like Africa,\" I said, \"is sure to be full of the relics\nof long dead and forgotten civilisations. Nobody knows the age of the\nEgyptian civilisation, and very likely it had offshoots. Then there were\nthe Babylonians and the Phoenicians, and the Persians, and all manner\nof people, all more or less civilised, to say nothing of the Jews whom\neverybody 'wants' nowadays. It is possible that they, or any one of\nthem, may have had colonies or trading stations about here. Remember\nthose buried Persian cities that the consul showed us at Kilwa.\"[*]\n\n[*] Near Kilwa, on the East Coast of Africa, about 400 miles south of\nZanzibar, is a cliff which has been recently washed by the waves. On the\ntop of this cliff are Persian tombs known to be at least seven centuries\nold by the dates still legible upon them. Beneath these tombs is a layer\nof _débris_ representing a city. Farther down the cliff is a second\nlayer representing an older city, and farther down still a third layer,\nthe remains of yet another city of vast and unknown antiquity.\nBeneath the bottom city were recently found some specimens of glazed\nearthenware, such as are occasionally to be met with on that coast to\nthis day. I believe that they are now in the possession of Sir John\nKirk.--Editor.\n\n\"Quite so,\" said Leo, \"but that is not what you said before.\"\n\n\"Well, what is to be done now?\" I asked, turning the conversation.\n\nAs no answer was forthcoming we walked to the edge of the swamp, and\nlooked over it. It was apparently boundless, and vast flocks of\nevery sort of waterfowl flew from its recesses, till it was sometimes\ndifficult to see the sky. Now that the sun was getting high it drew thin\nsickly looking clouds of poisonous vapour from the surface of the marsh\nand from the scummy pools of stagnant water.\n\n\"Two things are clear to me,\" I said, addressing my three companions,\nwho stared at this spectacle in dismay: \"first, that we can't go across\nthere\" (I pointed to the swamp), \"and, secondly, that if we stop here we\nshall certainly die of fever.\"\n\n\"That's as clear as a haystack, sir,\" said Job.\n\n\"Very well, then; there are two alternatives before us. One is to 'bout\nship, and try and run for some port in the whale-boat, which would be\na sufficiently risky proceeding, and the other to sail or row on up the\nriver, and see where we come to.\"\n\n\"I don't know what you are going to do,\" said Leo, setting his mouth,\n\"but I am going up that river.\"\n\nJob turned up the whites of his eyes and groaned, and the Arab murmured\n\"Allah,\" and groaned also. As for me, I remarked sweetly that as we\nseemed to be between the devil and the deep sea, it did not much matter\nwhere we went. But in reality I was as anxious to proceed as Leo. The\ncolossal negro's head and the stone wharf had excited my curiosity to an\nextent of which I was secretly ashamed, and I was prepared to gratify it\nat any cost. Accordingly, having carefully fitted the mast, restowed\nthe boat, and got out our rifles, we embarked. Fortunately the wind\nwas blowing on shore from the ocean, so we were able to hoist the sail.\nIndeed, we afterwards found out that as a general rule the wind set on\nshore from daybreak for some hours, and off shore again at sunset, and\nthe explanation that I offer of this is, that when the earth is cooled\nby the dew and the night the hot air rises, and the draught rushes in\nfrom the sea till the sun has once more heated it through. At least that\nappeared to be the rule here.\n\nTaking advantage of this favouring wind, we sailed merrily up the river\nfor three or four hours. Once we came across a school of hippopotami,\nwhich rose, and bellowed dreadfully at us within ten or a dozen fathoms\nof the boat, much to Job's alarm, and, I will confess, to my own. These\nwere the first hippopotami that we had ever seen, and, to judge by their\ninsatiable curiosity, I should judge that we were the first white men\nthat they had ever seen. Upon my word, I once or twice thought that they\nwere coming into the boat to gratify it. Leo wanted to fire at them,\nbut I dissuaded him, fearing the consequences. Also, we saw hundreds of\ncrocodiles basking on the muddy banks, and thousands upon thousands\nof water-fowl. Some of these we shot, and among them was a wild goose,\nwhich, in addition to the sharp-curved spurs on its wings, had a spur\nabout three-quarters of an inch long growing from the skull just between\nthe eyes. We never shot another like it, so I do not know if it was\na \"sport\" or a distinct species. In the latter case this incident may\ninterest naturalists. Job named it the Unicorn Goose.\n\nAbout midday the sun grew intensely hot, and the stench drawn up by it\nfrom the marshes which the river drains was something too awful, and\ncaused us instantly to swallow precautionary doses of quinine. Shortly\nafterwards the breeze died away altogether, and as rowing our heavy boat\nagainst stream in the heat was out of the question, we were thankful\nenough to get under the shade of a group of trees--a species of\nwillow--that grew by the edge of the river, and lie there and gasp till\nat length the approach of sunset put a period to our miseries. Seeing\nwhat appeared to be an open space of water straight ahead of us, we\ndetermined to row there before settling what to do for the night. Just\nas we were about to loosen the boat, however, a beautiful waterbuck,\nwith great horns curving forward, and a white stripe across the rump,\ncame down to the river to drink, without perceiving us hidden away\nwithin fifty yards under the willows. Leo was the first to catch sight\nof it, and, being an ardent sportsman, thirsting for the blood of\nbig game, about which he had been dreaming for months, he instantly\nstiffened all over, and pointed like a setter dog. Seeing what was the\nmatter, I handed him his express rifle, at the same time taking my own.\n\n\"Now then,\" I whispered, \"mind you don't miss.\"\n\n\"Miss!\" he whispered back contemptuously; \"I could not miss it if I\ntried.\"\n\nHe lifted the rifle, and the roan-coloured buck, having drunk his fill,\nraised his head and looked out across the river. He was standing right\nagainst the sunset sky on a little eminence, or ridge of ground, which\nran across the swamp, evidently a favourite path for game, and there\nwas something very beautiful about him. Indeed, I do not think that if\nI live to a hundred I shall ever forget that desolate and yet most\nfascinating scene; it is stamped upon my memory. To the right and\nleft were wide stretches of lonely death-breeding swamp, unbroken and\nunrelieved so far as the eye could reach, except here and there by ponds\nof black and peaty water that, mirror-like, flashed up the red rays\nof the setting sun. Behind us and before stretched the vista of the\nsluggish river, ending in glimpses of a reed-fringed lagoon, on the\nsurface of which the long lights of the evening played as the faint\nbreeze stirred the shadows. To the west loomed the huge red ball of the\nsinking sun, now vanishing down the vapoury horizon, and filling the\ngreat heaven, high across whose arch the cranes and wildfowl streamed\nin line, square, and triangle, with flashes of flying gold and the lurid\nstain of blood. And then ourselves--three modern Englishmen in a\nmodern English boat--seeming to jar upon and look out of tone with that\nmeasureless desolation; and in front of us the noble buck limned out\nupon a background of ruddy sky.\n\n_Bang!_ Away he goes with a mighty bound. Leo has missed him. _Bang!_\nright under him again. Now for a shot. I must have one, though he is\ngoing like an arrow, and a hundred yards away and more. By Jove! over\nand over and over! \"Well, I think I've wiped your eye there, Master\nLeo,\" I say, struggling against the ungenerous exultation that in such\na supreme moment of one's existence will rise in the best-mannered\nsportsman's breast.\n\n\"Confound you, yes,\" growled Leo; and then, with that quick smile that\nis one of his charms lighting up his handsome face like a ray of light,\n\"I beg your pardon, old fellow. I congratulate you; it was a lovely\nshot, and mine were vile.\"\n\nWe got out of the boat and ran to the buck, which was shot through the\nspine and stone dead. It took us a quarter of an hour or more to clean\nit and cut off as much of the best meat as we could carry, and,\nhaving packed this away, we had barely light enough to row up into the\nlagoon-like space, into which, there being a hollow in the swamp, the\nriver here expanded. Just as the light vanished we cast anchor about\nthirty fathoms from the edge of the lake. We did not dare to go ashore,\nnot knowing if we should find dry ground to camp on, and greatly fearing\nthe poisonous exhalations from the marsh, from which we thought we\nshould be freer on the water. So we lighted a lantern, and made our\nevening meal off another potted tongue in the best fashion that we\ncould, and then prepared to go to sleep, only, however, to find that\nsleep was impossible. For, whether they were attracted by the lantern,\nor by the unaccustomed smell of a white man for which they had been\nwaiting for the last thousand years or so, I know not; but certainly we\nwere presently attacked by tens of thousands of the most blood-thirsty,\npertinacious, and huge mosquitoes that I ever saw or read of. In clouds\nthey came, and pinged and buzzed and bit till we were nearly mad.\nTobacco smoke only seemed to stir them into a merrier and more active\nlife, till at length we were driven to covering ourselves with blankets,\nhead and all, and sitting to slowly stew and continually scratch and\nswear beneath them. And as we sat, suddenly rolling out like thunder\nthrough the silence came the deep roar of a lion, and then of a second\nlion, moving among the reeds within sixty yards of us.\n\n\"I say,\" said Leo, sticking his head out from under his blanket, \"lucky\nwe ain't on the bank, eh, Avuncular?\" (Leo sometimes addressed me in\nthis disrespectful way.) \"Curse it! a mosquito has bitten me on the\nnose,\" and the head vanished again.\n\nShortly after this the moon came up, and notwithstanding every variety\nof roar that echoed over the water to us from the lions on the banks, we\nbegan, thinking ourselves perfectly secure, to gradually doze off.\n\nI do not quite know what it was that made me poke my head out of the\nfriendly shelter of the blanket, perhaps because I found that the\nmosquitoes were biting right through it. Anyhow, as I did so I heard Job\nwhisper, in a frightened voice--\n\n\"Oh, my stars, look there!\"\n\nInstantly we all of us looked, and this was what we saw in the\nmoonlight. Near the shore were two wide and ever-widening circles of\nconcentric rings rippling away across the surface of the water, and in\nthe heart and centre of the circles were two dark moving objects.\n\n\"What is it?\" asked I.\n\n\"It is those damned lions, sir,\" answered Job, in a tone which was\nan odd mixture of a sense of personal injury, habitual respect, and\nacknowledged fear, \"and they are swimming here to _heat_ us,\" he added,\nnervously picking up an \"h\" in his agitation.\n\nI looked again: there was no doubt about it; I could catch the glare of\ntheir ferocious eyes. Attracted either by the smell of the newly killed\nwaterbuck meat or of ourselves, the hungry beasts were actually storming\nour position.\n\nLeo already had his rifle in his hand. I called to him to wait till they\nwere nearer, and meanwhile grabbed my own. Some fifteen feet from us\nthe water shallowed on a bank to the depth of about fifteen inches, and\npresently the first of them--it was the lioness--got on to it, shook\nherself, and roared. At that moment Leo fired, the bullet went right\ndown her open mouth and out at the back of her neck, and down she\ndropped, with a splash, dead. The other lion--a full-grown male--was\nsome two paces behind her. At this second he got his forepaws on to the\nbank, when a strange thing happened. There was a rush and disturbance\nof the water, such as one sees in a pond in England when a pike takes a\nlittle fish, only a thousand times fiercer and larger, and suddenly the\nlion gave a most terrific snarling roar and sprang forward on to the\nbank, dragging something black with him.\n\n\"Allah!\" shouted Mahomed, \"a crocodile has got him by the leg!\" and sure\nenough he had. We could see the long snout with its gleaming lines of\nteeth and the reptile body behind it.\n\nAnd then followed an extraordinary scene indeed. The lion managed to\nget well on to the bank, the crocodile half standing and half swimming,\nstill nipping his hind leg. He roared till the air quivered with the\nsound, and then, with a savage, shrieking snarl, turned round and clawed\nhold of the crocodile's head. The crocodile shifted his grip, having,\nas we afterwards discovered, had one of his eyes torn out, and slightly\nturned over; instantly the lion got him by the throat and held on, and\nthen over and over they rolled upon the bank struggling hideously. It\nwas impossible to follow their movements, but when next we got a clear\nview the tables had turned, for the crocodile, whose head seemed to be\na mass of gore, had got the lion's body in his iron jaws just above the\nhips, and was squeezing him and shaking him to and fro. For his part,\nthe tortured brute, roaring in agony, was clawing and biting madly\nat his enemy's scaly head, and fixing his great hind claws in the\ncrocodile's, comparatively speaking, soft throat, ripping it open as one\nwould rip a glove.\n\nThen, all of a sudden, the end came. The lion's head fell forward on the\ncrocodile's back, and with an awful groan he died, and the crocodile,\nafter standing for a minute motionless, slowly rolled over on to his\nside, his jaws still fixed across the carcase of the lion, which, we\nafterwards found, he had bitten almost in halves.\n\nThis duel to the death was a wonderful and a shocking sight, and one\nthat I suppose few men have seen--and thus it ended.\n\nWhen it was all over, leaving Mahomed to keep a look out, we managed to\nspend the rest of the night as quietly as the mosquitoes would allow.\n\n\n\nVI\n\nAN EARLY CHRISTIAN CEREMONY\n\nNext morning, at the earliest light of dawn, we rose, performed such\nablutions as circumstances would allow, and generally made ready to\nstart. I am bound to say that when there was sufficient light to enable\nus to see each other's faces I, for one, burst out into a roar of\nlaughter. Job's fat and comfortable countenance was swollen out to\nnearly twice its natural size from mosquito bites, and Leo's condition\nwas not much better. Indeed, of the three I had come off much the best,\nprobably owing to the toughness of my dark skin, and to the fact that\na good deal of it was covered by hair, for since we had started from\nEngland I had allowed my naturally luxuriant beard to grow at its\nown sweet will. But the other two were, comparatively speaking, clean\nshaved, which of course gave the enemy a larger extent of open country\nto operate on, though in Mahomed's case the mosquitoes, recognising the\ntaste of a true believer, would not touch him at any price. How often,\nI wonder, during the next week or so did we wish that we were flavoured\nlike an Arab!\n\nBy the time that we had done laughing as heartily as our swollen lips\nwould allow, it was daylight, and the morning breeze was coming up from\nthe sea, cutting lanes through the dense marsh mists, and here and there\nrolling them before it in great balls of fleecy vapour. So we set\nour sail, and having first taken a look at the two dead lions and the\nalligator, which we were of course unable to skin, being destitute of\nmeans of curing the pelts, we started, and, sailing through the lagoon,\nfollowed the course of the river on the farther side. At midday, when\nthe breeze dropped, we were fortunate enough to find a convenient piece\nof dry land on which to camp and light a fire, and here we cooked two\nwild-ducks and some of the waterbuck's flesh--not in a very appetising\nway, it is true, but still sufficiently. The rest of the buck's flesh\nwe cut into strips and hung in the sun to dry into \"biltong,\" as, I\nbelieve, the South African Dutch call flesh thus prepared. On this\nwelcome patch of dry land we stopped till the following dawn, and, as\nbefore, spent the night in warfare with the mosquitoes, but without\nother troubles. The next day or two passed in similar fashion, and\nwithout noticeable adventures, except that we shot a specimen of a\npeculiarly graceful hornless buck, and saw many varieties of water-lily\nin full bloom, some of them blue and of exquisite beauty, though few\nof the flowers were perfect, owing to the prevalence of a white\nwater-maggot with a green head that fed upon them.\n\nIt was on the fifth day of our journey, when we had travelled, so far\nas we could reckon, about one hundred and thirty-five to a hundred and\nforty miles westwards from the coast, that the first event of any real\nimportance occurred. On that morning the usual wind failed us about\neleven o'clock, and after pulling a little way we were forced to halt,\nmore or less exhausted, at what appeared to be the junction of our\nstream with another of a uniform width of about fifty feet. Some trees\ngrew near at hand--the only trees in all this country were along the\nbanks of the river, and under these we rested, and then, the land being\nfairly dry just here, walked a little way along the edge of the river to\nprospect, and shoot a few waterfowl for food. Before we had gone fifty\nyards we perceived that all hopes of getting further up the stream in\nthe whale-boat were at an end, for not two hundred yards above where\nwe had stopped were a succession of shallows and mudbanks, with not six\ninches of water over them. It was a watery _cul de sac_.\n\nTurning back, we walked some way along the banks of the other river, and\nsoon came to the conclusion, from various indications, that it was not\na river at all, but an ancient canal, like the one which is to be seen\nabove Mombasa, on the Zanzibar coast, connecting the Tana River with\nthe Ozy, in such a way as to enable the shipping coming down the Tana\nto cross to the Ozy, and reach the sea by it, and thus avoid the very\ndangerous bar that blocks the mouth of the Tana. The canal before us\nhad evidently been dug out by man at some remote period of the world's\nhistory, and the results of his digging still remained in the shape of\nthe raised banks that had no doubt once formed towing-paths. Except here\nand there, where they had been hollowed out by the water or fallen in,\nthese banks of stiff binding clay were at a uniform distance from each\nother, and the depth of the stream also appeared to be uniform. Current\nthere was little or none, and, as a consequence, the surface of the\ncanal was choked with vegetable growth, intersected by little paths\nof clear water, made, I suppose, by the constant passage of waterfowl,\niguanas, and other vermin. Now, as it was evident that we could not\nproceed up the river, it became equally evident that we must either try\nthe canal or else return to the sea. We could not stop where we were,\nto be baked by the sun and eaten up by the mosquitoes, till we died of\nfever in that dreary marsh.\n\n\"Well, I suppose that we must try it,\" I said; and the others assented\nin their various ways--Leo, as though it were the best joke in the\nworld; Job, in respectful disgust; and Mahomed, with an invocation to\nthe Prophet, and a comprehensive curse upon all unbelievers and their\nways of thought and travel.\n\nAccordingly, as soon as the sun got low, having little or nothing more\nto hope for from our friendly wind, we started. For the first hour or so\nwe managed to row the boat, though with great labour; but after that the\nweeds got too thick to allow of it, and we were obliged to resort to the\nprimitive and most exhausting resource of towing her. For two hours we\nlaboured, Mahomed, Job, and I, who was supposed to be strong enough to\npull against the two of them, on the bank, while Leo sat in the bow of\nthe boat, and brushed away the weeds which collected round the cutwater\nwith Mahomed's sword. At dark we halted for some hours to rest and enjoy\nthe mosquitoes, but about midnight we went on again, taking advantage\nof the comparative cool of the night. At dawn we rested for three hours,\nand then started once more, and laboured on till about ten o'clock, when\na thunderstorm, accompanied by a deluge of rain, overtook us, and we\nspent the next six hours practically under water.\n\nI do not know that there is any necessity for me to describe the next\nfour days of our voyage in detail, further than to say that they were,\non the whole, the most miserable that I ever spent in my life, forming\none monotonous record of heavy labour, heat, misery, and mosquitoes. All\nthat dreary way we passed through a region of almost endless swamp, and\nI can only attribute our escape from fever and death to the constant\ndoses of quinine and purgatives which we took, and the unceasing toil\nwhich we were forced to undergo. On the third day of our journey up the\ncanal we had sighted a round hill that loomed dimly through the vapours\nof the marsh, and on the evening of the fourth night, when we camped,\nthis hill seemed to be within five-and-twenty or thirty miles of us. We\nwere by now utterly exhausted, and felt as though our blistered hands\ncould not pull the boat a yard farther, and that the best thing that\nwe could do would be to lie down and die in that dreadful wilderness of\nswamp. It was an awful position, and one in which I trust no other white\nman will ever be placed; and as I threw myself down in the boat to sleep\nthe sleep of utter exhaustion, I bitterly cursed my folly in ever having\nbeen a party to such a mad undertaking, which could, I saw, only end in\nour death in this ghastly land. I thought, I remember, as I slowly sank\ninto a doze, of what the appearance of the boat and her unhappy crew\nwould be in two or three months' time from that night. There she would\nlie, with gaping seams and half filled with foetid water, which, when\nthe mist-laden wind stirred her, would wash backwards and forwards\nthrough our mouldering bones, and that would be the end of her, and of\nthose in her who would follow after myths and seek out the secrets of\nNature.\n\nAlready I seemed to hear the water rippling against the desiccated bones\nand rattling them together, rolling my skull against Mahomed's, and\nhis against mine, till at last Mahomed's stood straight up upon its\nvertebræ, and glared at me through its empty eyeholes, and cursed me\nwith its grinning jaws, because I, a dog of a Christian, disturbed the\nlast sleep of a true believer. I opened my eyes, and shuddered at the\nhorrid dream, and then shuddered again at something that was not a\ndream, for two great eyes were gleaming down at me through the misty\ndarkness. I struggled up, and in my terror and confusion shrieked, and\nshrieked again, so that the others sprang up too, reeling, and drunken\nwith sleep and fear. And then all of a sudden there was a flash of cold\nsteel, and a great spear was held against my throat, and behind it other\nspears gleamed cruelly.\n\n\"Peace,\" said a voice, speaking in Arabic, or rather in some dialect\ninto which Arabic entered very largely; \"who are ye who come hither\nswimming on the water? Speak or ye die,\" and the steel pressed sharply\nagainst my throat, sending a cold chill through me.\n\n\"We are travellers, and have come hither by chance,\" I answered in my\nbest Arabic, which appeared to be understood, for the man turned his\nhead, and, addressing a tall form that towered up in the background,\nsaid, \"Father, shall we slay?\"\n\n\"What is the colour of the men?\" said a deep voice in answer.\n\n\"White is their colour.\"\n\n\"Slay not,\" was the reply. \"Four suns since was the word brought to me\nfrom '_She-who-must-be-obeyed_,' 'White men come; if white men\ncome, slay them not.' Let them be brought to the house of\n'_She-who-must-be-obeyed_.' Bring forth the men, and let that which they\nhave with them be brought forth also.\"\n\n\"Come,\" said the man, half leading and half dragging me from the boat,\nand as he did so I perceived other men doing the same kind office to my\ncompanions.\n\nOn the bank were gathered a company of some fifty men. In that light all\nI could make out was that they were armed with huge spears, were very\ntall, and strongly built, comparatively light in colour, and nude, save\nfor a leopard skin tied round the middle.\n\nPresently Leo and Job were bundled out and placed beside me.\n\n\"What on earth is up?\" said Leo, rubbing his eyes.\n\n\"Oh, Lord! sir, here's a rum go,\" ejaculated Job; and just at that\nmoment a disturbance ensued, and Mahomed came tumbling between us,\nfollowed by a shadowy form with an uplifted spear.\n\n\"Allah! Allah!\" howled Mahomed, feeling that he had little to hope from\nman, \"protect me! protect me!\"\n\n\"Father, it is a black one,\" said a voice. \"What said\n'_She-who-must-be-obeyed_' about the black one?\"\n\n\"She said naught; but slay him not. Come hither, my son.\"\n\nThe man advanced, and the tall shadowy form bent forward and whispered\nsomething.\n\n\"Yes, yes,\" said the other, and chuckled in a rather blood-curdling\ntone.\n\n\"Are the three white men there?\" asked the form.\n\n\"Yes, they are there.\"\n\n\"Then bring up that which is made ready for them, and let the men take\nall that can be brought from the thing which floats.\"\n\nHardly had he spoken when men came running up, carrying on their\nshoulders neither more nor less than palanquins--four bearers and two\nspare men to a palanquin--and in these it was promptly indicated we were\nexpected to stow ourselves.\n\n\"Well!\" said Leo, \"it is a blessing to find anybody to carry us after\nhaving to carry ourselves so long.\"\n\nLeo always takes a cheerful view of things.\n\nThere being no help for it, after seeing the others into theirs I\ntumbled into my own litter, and very comfortable I found it. It appeared\nto be manufactured of cloth woven from grass-fibre, which stretched and\nyielded to every motion of the body, and, being bound top and bottom to\nthe bearing pole, gave a grateful support to the head and neck.\n\nScarcely had I settled myself when, accompanying their steps with a\nmonotonous song, the bearers started at a swinging trot. For half an\nhour or so I lay still, reflecting on the very remarkable experiences\nthat we were going through, and wondering if any of my eminently\nrespectable fossil friends down at Cambridge would believe me if I were\nto be miraculously set at the familiar dinner-table for the purpose\nof relating them. I do not want to convey any disrespectful notion or\nslight when I call those good and learned men fossils, but my experience\nis that people are apt to fossilise even at a University if they follow\nthe same paths too persistently. I was getting fossilised myself, but\nof late my stock of ideas has been very much enlarged. Well, I lay and\nreflected, and wondered what on earth would be the end of it all, till\nat last I ceased to wonder, and went to sleep.\n\nI suppose I must have slept for seven or eight hours, getting the first\nreal rest that I had had since the night before the loss of the\ndhow, for when I woke the sun was high in the heavens. We were still\njourneying on at a pace of about four miles an hour. Peeping out through\nthe mist-like curtains of the litter, which were ingeniously fixed to\nthe bearing pole, I perceived to my infinite relief that we had passed\nout of the region of eternal swamp, and were now travelling over\nswelling grassy plains towards a cup-shaped hill. Whether or not it was\nthe same hill that we had seen from the canal I do not know, and have\nnever since been able to discover, for, as we afterwards found out,\nthese people will give little information upon such points. Next I\nglanced at the men who were bearing me. They were of a magnificent\nbuild, few of them being under six feet in height, and yellowish in\ncolour. Generally their appearance had a good deal in common with that\nof the East African Somali, only their hair was not frizzed up, but hung\nin thick black locks upon their shoulders. Their features were aquiline,\nand in many cases exceedingly handsome, the teeth being especially\nregular and beautiful. But notwithstanding their beauty, it struck me\nthat, on the whole, I had never seen a more evil-looking set of faces.\nThere was an aspect of cold and sullen cruelty stamped upon them\nthat revolted me, and which in some cases was almost uncanny in its\nintensity.\n\nAnother thing that struck me about them was that they never seemed to\nsmile. Sometimes they sang the monotonous song of which I have spoken,\nbut when they were not singing they remained almost perfectly silent,\nand the light of a laugh never came to brighten their sombre and evil\ncountenances. Of what race could these people be? Their language was a\nbastard Arabic, and yet they were not Arabs; I was quite sure of that.\nFor one thing they were too dark, or rather yellow. I could not say why,\nbut I know that their appearance filled me with a sick fear of which\nI felt ashamed. While I was still wondering another litter came up\nalongside of mine. In it--for the curtains were drawn--sat an old man,\nclothed in a whitish robe, made apparently from coarse linen, that hung\nloosely about him, who, I at once jumped to the conclusion, was\nthe shadowy figure that had stood on the bank and been addressed as\n\"Father.\" He was a wonderful-looking old man, with a snowy beard, so\nlong that the ends of it hung over the sides of the litter, and he had\na hooked nose, above which flashed out a pair of eyes as keen as a\nsnake's, while his whole countenance was instinct with a look of wise\nand sardonic humour impossible to describe on paper.\n\n\"Art thou awake, stranger?\" he said in a deep and low voice.\n\n\"Surely, my father,\" I answered courteously, feeling certain that I\nshould do well to conciliate this ancient Mammon of Unrighteousness.\n\nHe stroked his beautiful white beard, and smiled faintly.\n\n\"From whatever country thou camest,\" he said, \"and by the way it must\nbe from one where somewhat of our language is known, they teach their\nchildren courtesy there, my stranger son. And now wherefore comest thou\nunto this land, which scarce an alien foot has pressed from the time\nthat man knoweth? Art thou and those with thee weary of life?\"\n\n\"We came to find new things,\" I answered boldly. \"We are tired of\nthe old things; we have come up out of the sea to know that which\nis unknown. We are of a brave race who fear not death, my very much\nrespected father--that is, if we can get a little information before we\ndie.\"\n\n\"Humph!\" said the old gentleman, \"that may be true; it is rash to\ncontradict, otherwise I should say that thou wast lying, my son.\nHowever, I dare to say that '_She-who-must-be-obeyed_' will meet thy\nwishes in the matter.\"\n\n\"Who is '_She-who-must-be-obeyed_'?\" I asked, curiously.\n\nThe old man glanced at the bearers, and then answered, with a little\nsmile that somehow sent my blood to my heart--\n\n\"Surely, my stranger son, thou wilt learn soon enough, if it be her\npleasure to see thee at all in the flesh.\"\n\n\"In the flesh?\" I answered. \"What may my father wish to convey?\"\n\nBut the old man only laughed a dreadful laugh, and made no reply.\n\n\"What is the name of my father's people?\" I asked.\n\n\"The name of my people is Amahagger\" (the People of the Rocks).\n\n\"And if a son might ask, what is the name of my father?\"\n\n\"My name is Billali.\"\n\n\"And whither go we, my father?\"\n\n\"That shalt thou see,\" and at a sign from him his bearers started\nforward at a run till they reached the litter in which Job was reposing\n(with one leg hanging over the side). Apparently, however, he could not\nmake much out of Job, for presently I saw his bearers trot forward to\nLeo's litter.\n\nAnd after that, as nothing fresh occurred, I yielded to the pleasant\nswaying motion of the litter, and went to sleep again. I was dreadfully\ntired. When I woke I found that we were passing through a rocky defile\nof a lava formation with precipitous sides, in which grew many beautiful\ntrees and flowering shrubs.\n\nPresently this defile took a turn, and a lovely sight unfolded itself\nto my eyes. Before us was a vast cup of green from four to six miles in\nextent, in the shape of a Roman amphitheatre. The sides of this great\ncup were rocky, and clothed with bush, but the centre was of the richest\nmeadow land, studded with single trees of magnificent growth, and\nwatered by meandering brooks. On this rich plain grazed herds of goats\nand cattle, but I saw no sheep. At first I could not imagine what this\nstrange spot could be, but presently it flashed upon me that it must\nrepresent the crater of some long-extinct volcano which had afterwards\nbeen a lake, and was ultimately drained in some unexplained way. And\nhere I may state that from my subsequent experience of this and a much\nlarger, but otherwise similar spot, which I shall have occasion to\ndescribe by-and-by, I have every reason to believe that this conclusion\nwas correct. What puzzled me, however, was, that although there were\npeople moving about herding the goats and cattle, I saw no signs of any\nhuman habitation. Where did they all live? I wondered. My curiosity was\nsoon destined to be gratified. Turning to the left the string of litters\nfollowed the cliffy sides of the crater for a distance of about half\na mile, or perhaps a little less, and then halted. Seeing the old\ngentleman, my adopted \"father,\" Billali, emerge from his litter, I did\nthe same, and so did Leo and Job. The first thing I saw was our wretched\nArab companion, Mahomed, lying exhausted on the ground. It appeared that\nhe had not been provided with a litter, but had been forced to run the\nentire distance, and, as he was already quite worn out when we started,\nhis condition now was one of great prostration.\n\nOn looking round we discovered that the place where we had halted was\na platform in front of the mouth of a great cave, and piled upon this\nplatform were the entire contents of the whale-boat, even down to the\noars and sail. Round the cave stood groups of the men who had escorted\nus, and other men of a similar stamp. They were all tall and all\nhandsome, though they varied in their degree of darkness of skin, some\nbeing as dark as Mahomed, and some as yellow as a Chinese. They were\nnaked, except for the leopard-skin round the waist, and each of them\ncarried a huge spear.\n\nThere were also some women among them, who, instead of the leopard-skin,\nwore a tanned hide of a small red buck, something like that of the\noribé, only rather darker in colour. These women were, as a class,\nexceedingly good-looking, with large, dark eyes, well-cut features, and\na thick bush of curling hair--not crisped like a negro's--ranging from\nblack to chestnut in hue, with all shades of intermediate colour. Some,\nbut very few of them, wore a yellowish linen garment, such as I have\ndescribed as worn by Billali, but this, as we afterwards discovered, was\na mark of rank, rather than an attempt at clothing. For the rest, their\nappearance was not quite so terrifying as that of the men, and they\nsometimes, though rarely, smiled. As soon as we had alighted they\ngathered round us and examined us with curiosity, but without\nexcitement. Leo's tall, athletic form and clear-cut Grecian face,\nhowever, evidently excited their attention, and when he politely lifted\nhis hat to them, and showed his curling yellow hair, there was a slight\nmurmur of admiration. Nor did it stop there; for, after regarding him\ncritically from head to foot, the handsomest of the young women--one\nwearing a robe, and with hair of a shade between brown and\nchestnut--deliberately advanced to him, and, in a way that would have\nbeen winning had it not been so determined, quietly put her arm round\nhis neck, bent forward, and kissed him on the lips.\n\nI gave a gasp, expecting to see Leo instantly speared; and Job\nejaculated, \"The hussy--well, I never!\" As for Leo, he looked slightly\nastonished; and then, remarking that we had clearly got into a country\nwhere they followed the customs of the early Christians, deliberately\nreturned the embrace.\n\nAgain I gasped, thinking that something would happen; but, to my\nsurprise, though some of the young women showed traces of vexation, the\nolder ones and the men only smiled slightly. When we came to understand\nthe customs of this extraordinary people the mystery was explained. It\nthen appeared that, in direct opposition to the habits of almost every\nother savage race in the world, women among the Amahagger are not only\nupon terms of perfect equality with the men, but are not held to them by\nany binding ties. Descent is traced only through the line of the\nmother, and while individuals are as proud of a long and superior female\nancestry as we are of our families in Europe, they never pay attention\nto, or even acknowledge, any man as their father, even when their male\nparentage is perfectly well known. There is but one titular male parent\nof each tribe, or, as they call it, \"Household,\" and he is its elected\nand immediate ruler, with the title of \"Father.\" For instance, the man\nBillali was the father of this \"household,\" which consisted of about\nseven thousand individuals all told, and no other man was ever called\nby that name. When a woman took a fancy to a man she signified her\npreference by advancing and embracing him publicly, in the same way that\nthis handsome and exceedingly prompt young lady, who was called Ustane,\nhad embraced Leo. If he kissed her back it was a token that he accepted\nher, and the arrangement continued until one of them wearied of it. I\nam bound, however, to say that the change of husbands was not nearly so\nfrequently as might have been expected. Nor did quarrels arise out\nof it, at least among the men, who, when their wives deserted them\nin favour of a rival, accepted the whole thing much as we accept the\nincome-tax or our marriage laws, as something not to be disputed, and as\ntending to the good of the community, however disagreeable they may in\nparticular instances prove to the individual.\n\nIt is very curious to observe how the customs of mankind on this matter\nvary in different countries, making morality an affair of latitude, and\nwhat is right and proper in one place wrong and improper in another. It\nmust, however, be understood that, since all civilised nations appear to\naccept it as an axiom that ceremony is the touchstone of morality, there\nis, even according to our canons, nothing immoral about this Amahagger\ncustom, seeing that the interchange of the embrace answers to our\nceremony of marriage, which, as we know, justifies most things.\n\n\n\nVII\n\nUSTANE SINGS\n\nWhen the kissing operation was finished--by the way, none of the young\nladies offered to pet me in this fashion, though I saw one hovering\nround Job, to that respectable individual's evident alarm--the old man\nBillali advanced, and graciously waved us into the cave, whither we\nwent, followed by Ustane, who did not seem inclined to take the hints I\ngave her that we liked privacy.\n\nBefore we had gone five paces it struck me that the cave that we were\nentering was none of Nature's handiwork, but, on the contrary, had been\nhollowed by the hand of man. So far as we could judge it appeared to\nbe about one hundred feet in length by fifty wide, and very lofty,\nresembling a cathedral aisle more than anything else. From this main\naisle opened passages at a distance of every twelve or fifteen feet,\nleading, I supposed, to smaller chambers. About fifty feet from the\nentrance of the cave, just where the light began to get dim, a fire was\nburning, which threw huge shadows upon the gloomy walls around. Here\nBillali halted, and asked us to be seated, saying that the people would\nbring us food, and accordingly we squatted ourselves down upon the\nrugs of skins which were spread for us, and waited. Presently the food,\nconsisting of goat's flesh boiled, fresh milk in an earthenware pot, and\nboiled cobs of Indian corn, was brought by young girls. We were almost\nstarving, and I do not think that I ever in my life before ate with\nsuch satisfaction. Indeed, before we had finished we literally ate up\neverything that was set before us.\n\nWhen we had done, our somewhat saturnine host, Billali, who had been\nwatching us in perfect silence, rose and addressed us. He said that it\nwas a wonderful thing that had happened. No man had ever known or heard\nof white strangers arriving in the country of the People of the Rocks.\nSometimes, though rarely, black men had come here, and from them they\nhad heard of the existence of men much whiter than themselves, who\nsailed on the sea in ships, but for the arrival of such there was no\nprecedent. We had, however, been seen dragging the boat up the canal,\nand he told us frankly that he had at once given orders for our\ndestruction, seeing that it was unlawful for any stranger to enter here,\nwhen a message had come from \"_She-who-must-be-obeyed_,\" saying that our\nlives were to be spared, and that we were to be brought hither.\n\n\"Pardon me, my father,\" I interrupted at this point; \"but if, as I\nunderstand, '_She-who-must-be-obeyed_' lives yet farther off, how could\nshe have known of our approach?\"\n\nBillali turned, and seeing that we were alone--for the young lady,\nUstane, had withdrawn when he had begun to speak--said, with a curious\nlittle laugh--\n\n\"Are there none in your land who can see without eyes and hear without\nears? Ask no questions; _She_ knew.\"\n\nI shrugged my shoulders at this, and he proceeded to say that no further\ninstructions had been received on the subject of our disposal, and this\nbeing so he was about to start to interview \"_She-who-must-be-obeyed_,\"\ngenerally spoken of, for the sake of brevity, as \"Hiya\" or _She_ simply,\nwho he gave us to understand was the Queen of the Amahagger, and learn\nher wishes.\n\nI asked him how long he proposed to be away, and he said that by\ntravelling hard he might be back on the fifth day, but there were many\nmiles of marsh to cross before he came to where _She_ was. He then said\nthat every arrangement would be made for our comfort during his absence,\nand that, as he personally had taken a fancy to us, he sincerely trusted\nthat the answer he should bring from _She_ would be one favourable to\nthe continuation of our existence, but at the same time he did not wish\nto conceal from us that he thought this doubtful, as every stranger\nwho had ever come into the country during his grandmother's life, his\nmother's life, and his own life, had been put to death without mercy,\nand in a way he would not harrow our feelings by describing; and this\nhad been done by the order of _She_ herself, at least he supposed that\nit was by her order. At any rate, she never interfered to save them.\n\n\"Why,\" I said, \"but how can that be? You are an old man, and the time\nyou talk of must reach back three men's lives. How therefore could _She_\nhave ordered the death of anybody at the beginning of the life of your\ngrandmother, seeing that herself she would not have been born?\"\n\nAgain he smiled--that same faint, peculiar smile, and with a deep bow\ndeparted, without making any answer; nor did we see him again for five\ndays.\n\nWhen he had gone we discussed the situation, which filled me with\nalarm. I did not at all like the accounts of this mysterious Queen,\n\"_She-who-must-be-obeyed_,\" or more shortly _She_, who apparently\nordered the execution of any unfortunate stranger in a fashion so\nunmerciful. Leo, too, was depressed about it, but consoled himself by\ntriumphantly pointing out that this _She_ was undoubtedly the person\nreferred to in the writing on the potsherd and in his father's letter,\nin proof of which he advanced Billali's allusions to her age and power.\nI was by this time too overwhelmed with the whole course of events that\nI had not even the heart left to dispute a proposition so absurd, so I\nsuggested that we should try to go out and get a bath, of which we all\nstood sadly in need.\n\nAccordingly, having indicated our wish to a middle-aged individual of\nan unusually saturnine cast of countenance, even among this saturnine\npeople, who appeared to be deputed to look after us now that the Father\nof the hamlet had departed, we started in a body--having first lit\nour pipes. Outside the cave we found quite a crowd of people evidently\nwatching for our appearance, but when they saw us come out smoking they\nvanished this way and that, calling out that we were great magicians.\nIndeed, nothing about us created so great a sensation as our tobacco\nsmoke--not even our firearms.[*] After this we succeeded in reaching\na stream that had its source in a strong ground spring, and taking our\nbath in peace, though some of the women, not excepting Ustane, showed a\ndecided inclination to follow us even there.\n\n     [*] We found tobacco growing in this country as it does in\n     every other part of Africa, and, although they were so\n     absolutely ignorant of its other blessed qualities, the\n     Amahagger use it habitually in the form of snuff and also\n     for medicinal purposes.--L. H. H.\n\nBy the time that we had finished this most refreshing bath the sun was\nsetting; indeed, when we got back to the big cave it had already set.\nThe cave itself was full of people gathered round fires--for several\nmore had now been lighted--and eating their evening meal by their lurid\nlight, and by that of various lamps which were set about or hung upon\nthe walls. These lamps were of a rude manufacture of baked earthenware,\nand of all shapes, some of them graceful enough. The larger ones were\nformed of big red earthenware pots, filled with clarified melted fat,\nand having a reed wick stuck through a wooden disk which filled the top\nof the pot. This sort of lamp required the most constant attention to\nprevent its going out whenever the wick burnt down, as there were no\nmeans of turning it up. The smaller hand lamps, however, which were also\nmade of baked clay, were fitted with wicks manufactured from the pith\nof a palm-tree, or sometimes from the stem of a very handsome variety\nof fern. This kind of wick was passed through a round hole at the end of\nthe lamp, to which a sharp piece of hard wood was attached wherewith to\npierce and draw it up whenever it showed signs of burning low.\n\nFor a while we sat down and watched this grim people eating their\nevening meal in silence as grim as themselves, till at length, getting\ntired of contemplating them and the huge moving shadows on the rocky\nwalls, I suggested to our new keeper that we should like to go to bed.\n\nWithout a word he rose, and, taking me politely by the hand, advanced\nwith a lamp to one of the small passages that I had noticed opening\nout of the central cave. This we followed for about five paces, when it\nsuddenly widened out into a small chamber, about eight feet square, and\nhewn out of the living rock. On one side of this chamber was a stone\nslab, about three feet from the ground, and running its entire length\nlike a bunk in a cabin, and on this slab he intimated that I was to\nsleep. There was no window or air-hole to the chamber, and no furniture;\nand, on looking at it more closely, I came to the disturbing conclusion\n(in which, as I afterwards discovered, I was quite right) that it\nhad originally served for a sepulchre for the dead rather than a\nsleeping-place for the living, the slab being designed to receive the\ncorpse of the departed. The thought made me shudder in spite of myself;\nbut, seeing that I must sleep somewhere, I got over the feeling as best\nI might, and returned to the cavern to get my blanket, which had been\nbrought up from the boat with the other things. There I met Job, who,\nhaving been inducted to a similar apartment, had flatly declined to stop\nin it, saying that the look of the place gave him the horrors, and that\nhe might as well be dead and buried in his grandfather's brick grave\nat once, and expressed his determination of sleeping with me if I would\nallow him. This, of course, I was only too glad to do.\n\nThe night passed very comfortably on the whole. I say on the whole,\nfor personally I went through a most horrible nightmare of being buried\nalive, induced, no doubt, by the sepulchral nature of my surroundings.\nAt dawn we were aroused by a loud trumpeting sound, produced, as we\nafterwards discovered, by a young Amahagger blowing through a hole\nbored in its side into a hollowed elephant tusk, which was kept for the\npurpose.\n\nTaking the hint, we got up and went down to the stream to wash, after\nwhich the morning meal was served. At breakfast one of the women, no\nlonger quite young, advanced and publicly kissed Job. I think it was in\nits way the most delightful thing (putting its impropriety aside for\na moment) that I ever saw. Never shall I forget the respectable Job's\nabject terror and disgust. Job, like myself, is a bit of a misogynist--I\nfancy chiefly owing to the fact of his having been one of a family\nof seventeen--and the feelings expressed upon his countenance when\nhe realised that he was not only being embraced publicly, and without\nauthorisation on his own part, but also in the presence of his masters,\nwere too mixed and painful to admit of accurate description. He sprang\nto his feet, and pushed the woman, a buxom person of about thirty, from\nhim.\n\n\"Well, I never!\" he gasped, whereupon probably thinking that he was only\ncoy, she embraced him again.\n\n\"Be off with you! Get away, you minx!\" he shouted, waving the wooden\nspoon, with which he was eating his breakfast, up and down before the\nlady's face. \"Beg your pardon, gentlemen, I am sure I haven't encouraged\nher. Oh, Lord! she's coming for me again. Hold her, Mr. Holly! please\nhold her! I can't stand it; I can't, indeed. This has never happened to\nme before, gentlemen, never. There's nothing against my character,\" and\nhere he broke off, and ran as hard as he could go down the cave, and for\nonce I saw the Amahagger laugh. As for the woman, however, she did\nnot laugh. On the contrary, she seemed to bristle with fury, which the\nmockery of the other women about only served to intensify. She stood\nthere literally snarling and shaking with indignation, and, seeing her,\nI wished Job's scruples had been at Jericho, forming a shrewd guess that\nhis admirable behaviour had endangered our throats. Nor, as the sequel\nshows, was I wrong.\n\nThe lady having retreated, Job returned in a great state of nervousness,\nand keeping his weather eye fixed upon every woman who came near him. I\ntook an opportunity to explain to our hosts that Job was a married man,\nand had had very unhappy experiences in his domestic relations, which\naccounted for his presence here and his terror at the sight of women,\nbut my remarks were received in grim silence, it being evident that our\nretainer's behaviour was considered as a slight to the \"household\"\nat large, although the women, after the manner of some of their most\ncivilised sisters, made merry at the rebuff of their companion.\n\nAfter breakfast we took a walk and inspected the Amahagger herds, and\nalso their cultivated lands. They have two breeds of cattle, one large\nand angular, with no horns, but yielding beautiful milk; and the other,\na red breed, very small and fat, excellent for meat, but of no value for\nmilking purposes. This last breed closely resembles the Norfolk red-pole\nstrain, only it has horns which generally curve forward over the head,\nsometimes to such an extent that they have to be cut to prevent them\nfrom growing into the bones of the skull. The goats are long-haired, and\nare used for eating only, at least I never saw them milked. As for the\nAmahagger cultivation, it is primitive in the extreme, being all done\nby means of a spade made of iron, for these people smelt and work iron.\nThis spade is shaped more like a big spear-head than anything else, and\nhas no shoulder to it on which the foot can be set. As a consequence,\nthe labour of digging is very great. It is, however, all done by the\nmen, the women, contrary to the habits of most savage races, being\nentirely exempt from manual toil. But then, as I think I have said\nelsewhere, among the Amahagger the weaker sex has established its\nrights.\n\nAt first we were much puzzled as to the origin and constitution of\nthis extraordinary race, points upon which they were singularly\nuncommunicative. As the time went on--for the next four days passed\nwithout any striking event--we learnt something from Leo's lady friend\nUstane, who, by the way, stuck to that young gentleman like his own\nshadow. As to origin, they had none, at least, so far as she was\naware. There were, however, she informed us, mounds of masonry and many\npillars, near the place where _She_ lived, which was called Kôr, and\nwhich the wise said had once been houses wherein men lived, and it was\nsuggested that they were descended from these men. No one, however,\ndared go near these great ruins, because they were haunted: they only\nlooked on them from a distance. Other similar ruins were to be seen, she\nhad heard, in various parts of the country, that is, wherever one of\nthe mountains rose above the level of the swamp. Also the caves in which\nthey lived had been hollowed out of the rocks by men, perhaps the same\nwho built the cities. They themselves had no written laws, only custom,\nwhich was, however, quite as binding as law. If any man offended\nagainst the custom, he was put to death by order of the Father of the\n\"Household.\" I asked how he was put to death, and she only smiled and\nsaid that I might see one day soon.\n\nThey had a Queen, however. _She_ was their Queen, but she was very\nrarely seen, perhaps once in two or three years, when she came forth to\npass sentence on some offenders, and when seen was muffled up in a big\ncloak, so that nobody could look upon her face. Those who waited upon\nher were deaf and dumb, and therefore could tell no tales, but it was\nreported that she was lovely as no other woman was lovely, or ever had\nbeen. It was rumoured also that she was immortal, and had power over\nall things, but she, Ustane, could say nothing of all that. What she\nbelieved was that the Queen chose a husband from time to time, and as\nsoon as a female child was born, this husband, who was never again seen,\nwas put to death. Then the female child grew up and took the place of\nthe Queen when its mother died, and had been buried in the great caves.\nBut of these matters none could speak with certainty. Only _She_ was\nobeyed throughout the length and breadth of the land, and to question\nher command was instant death. She kept a guard, but had no regular\narmy, and to disobey her was to die.\n\nI asked what size the land was, and how many people lived in it. She\nanswered that there were ten \"Households,\" like this that she knew\nof, including the big \"Household,\" where the Queen was, that all the\n\"Households\" lived in caves, in places resembling this stretch of raised\ncountry, dotted about in a vast extent of swamp, which was only to be\nthreaded by secret paths. Often the \"Households\" made war on each other\nuntil _She_ sent word that it was to stop, and then they instantly\nceased. That and the fever which they caught in crossing the swamps\nprevented their numbers from increasing too much. They had no connection\nwith any other race, indeed none lived near them, or were able to thread\nthe vast swamps. Once an army from the direction of the great river\n(presumably the Zambesi) had attempted to attack them, but they got lost\nin the marshes, and at night, seeing the great balls of fire that move\nabout there, tried to come to them, thinking that they marked the enemy\ncamp, and half of them were drowned. As for the rest, they soon died of\nfever and starvation, not a blow being struck at them. The marshes, she\ntold us, were absolutely impassable except to those who knew the paths,\nadding, what I could well believe, that we should never have reached\nthis place where we then were had we not been brought thither.\n\nThese and many other things we learnt from Ustane during the four days'\npause before our real adventures began, and, as may be imagined, they\ngave us considerable cause for thought. The whole thing was exceedingly\nremarkable, almost incredibly so, indeed, and the oddest part of it was\nthat so far it did more or less correspond to the ancient writing on the\nsherd. And now it appeared that there was a mysterious Queen clothed by\nrumour with dread and wonderful attributes, and commonly known by the\nimpersonal, but, to my mind, rather awesome title of _She_. Altogether,\nI could not make it out, nor could Leo, though of course he was\nexceedingly triumphant over me because I had persistently mocked at the\nwhole thing. As for Job, he had long since abandoned any attempt to call\nhis reason his own, and left it to drift upon the sea of circumstance.\nMahomed, the Arab, who was, by the way, treated civilly indeed, but\nwith chilling contempt, by the Amahagger, was, I discovered, in a great\nfright, though I could not quite make out what he was frightened about.\nHe would sit crouched up in a corner of the cave all day long, calling\nupon Allah and the Prophet to protect him. When I pressed him about it,\nhe said that he was afraid because these people were not men or women at\nall, but devils, and that this was an enchanted land; and, upon my word,\nonce or twice since then I have been inclined to agree with him. And\nso the time went on, till the night of the fourth day after Billali had\nleft, when something happened.\n\nWe three and Ustane were sitting round a fire in the cave just before\nbedtime, when suddenly the woman, who had been brooding in silence,\nrose, and laid her hand upon Leo's golden curls, and addressed him. Even\nnow, when I shut my eyes, I can see her proud, imperial form, clothed\nalternately in dense shadow and the red flickering of the fire, as she\nstood, the wild centre of as weird a scene as I ever witnessed, and\ndelivered herself of the burden of her thoughts and forebodings in a\nkind of rhythmical speech that ran something as follows:--\n\n     Thou art my chosen--I have waited for thee from the beginning!\n     Thou art very beautiful. Who hath hair like unto thee, or skin so\n     white?\n     Who hath so strong an arm, who is so much a man?\n     Thine eyes are the sky, and the light in them is the stars.\n     Thou art perfect and of a happy face, and my heart turned itself\n     towards thee.\n     Ay, when mine eyes fell upon thee I did desire thee,--\n     Then did I take thee to me--oh, thou Beloved,\n     And hold thee fast, lest harm should come unto thee.\n     Ay, I did cover thine head with mine hair, lest the sun should\n     strike it;\n     And altogether was I thine, and thou wast altogether mine.\n     And so it went for a little space, till Time was in labour with\n     an evil Day;\n     And then what befell on that day? Alas! my Beloved, I know not!\n     But I, I saw thee no more--I, I was lost in the blackness.\n     And she who is stronger did take thee; ay, she who is fairer than\n     Ustane.\n     Yet didst thou turn and call upon me, and let thine eyes wander in\n     the darkness.\n     But, nevertheless, she prevailed by Beauty, and led thee down\n     horrible places,\n     And then, ah! then my Beloved----\n\nHere this extraordinary woman broke off her speech, or chant, which was\nso much musical gibberish to us, for all that we understood of what she\nwas talking about, and seemed to fix her flashing eyes upon the deep\nshadow before her. Then in a moment they acquired a vacant, terrified\nstare, as though they were striving to realise some half-seen horror.\nShe lifted her hand from Leo's head, and pointed into the darkness. We\nall looked, and could see nothing; but she saw something, or thought she\ndid, and something evidently that affected even her iron nerves, for,\nwithout another sound, down she fell senseless between us.\n\nLeo, who was growing really attached to this remarkable young person,\nwas in a great state of alarm and distress, and I, to be perfectly\ncandid, was in a condition not far removed from superstitious fear. The\nwhole scene was an uncanny one.\n\nPresently, however, she recovered, and sat up with an extraordinary\nconvulsive shudder.\n\n\"What didst thou mean, Ustane?\" asked Leo, who, thanks to years of\ntuition, spoke Arabic very prettily.\n\n\"Nay, my chosen,\" she answered, with a little forced laugh. \"I did but\nsing unto thee after the fashion of my people. Surely, I meant nothing.\nHow could I speak of that which is not yet?\"\n\n\"And what didst thou see, Ustane?\" I asked, looking her sharply in the\nface.\n\n\"Nay,\" she answered again, \"I saw naught. Ask me not what I saw. Why\nshould I fright ye?\" And then, turning to Leo with a look of the most\nutter tenderness that I ever saw upon the face of a woman, civilised\nor savage, she took his head between her hands, and kissed him on the\nforehead as a mother might.\n\n\"When I am gone from thee, my chosen,\" she said; \"when at night thou\nstretchest out thine hand and canst not find me, then shouldst thou\nthink at times of me, for of a truth I love thee well, though I be not\nfit to wash thy feet. And now let us love and take that which is given\nus, and be happy; for in the grave there is no love and no warmth, nor\nany touching of the lips. Nothing perchance, or perchance but bitter\nmemories of what might have been. To-night the hours are our own, how\nknow we to whom they shall belong to-morrow?\"\n\n\n\nVIII\n\nTHE FEAST, AND AFTER!\n\nOn the day following this remarkable scene--a scene calculated to make\na deep impression upon anybody who beheld it, more because of what it\nsuggested and seemed to foreshadow than of what it revealed--it was\nannounced to us that a feast would be held that evening in our honour.\nI did my best to get out of it, saying that we were modest people, and\ncared little for feasts, but my remarks being received with the silence\nof displeasure, I thought it wisest to hold my tongue.\n\nAccordingly, just before sundown, I was informed that everything was\nready, and, accompanied by Job, went into the cave, where I met Leo,\nwho was, as usual, followed by Ustane. These two had been out walking\nsomewhere, and knew nothing of the projected festivity till that moment.\nWhen Ustane heard of it I saw an expression of horror spring up upon her\nhandsome features. Turning she caught a man who was passing up the cave\nby the arm, and asked him something in an imperious tone. His answer\nseemed to reassure her a little, for she looked relieved, though far\nfrom satisfied. Next she appeared to attempt some remonstrance with the\nman, who was a person in authority, but he spoke angrily to her, and\nshook her off, and then, changing his mind, led her by the arm, and sat\nher down between himself and another man in the circle round the fire,\nand I perceived that for some reason of her own she thought it best to\nsubmit.\n\nThe fire in the cave was an unusually big one that night, and in a\nlarge circle round it were gathered about thirty-five men and two women,\nUstane and the woman to avoid whom Job had played the _rôle_ of another\nScriptural character. The men were sitting in perfect silence, as was\ntheir custom, each with his great spear stuck upright behind him, in\na socket cut in the rock for that purpose. Only one or two wore the\nyellowish linen garment of which I have spoken, the rest had nothing on\nexcept the leopard's skin about the middle.\n\n\"What's up now, sir,\" said Job, doubtfully. \"Bless us and save us,\nthere's that woman again. Now, surely, she can't be after me, seeing\nthat I have given her no encouragement. They give me the creeps, the\nwhole lot of them, and that's a fact. Why look, they have asked Mahomed\nto dine, too. There, that lady of mine is talking to him in as nice and\ncivil a way as possible. Well, I'm glad it isn't me, that's all.\"\n\nWe looked up, and sure enough the woman in question had risen, and was\nescorting the wretched Mahomed from his corner, where, overcome by some\nacute prescience of horror, he had been seated, shivering, and calling\non Allah. He appeared unwilling enough to come, if for no other reason\nperhaps because it was an unaccustomed honour, for hitherto his food had\nbeen given to him apart. Anyway I could see that he was in a state of\ngreat terror, for his tottering legs would scarcely support his\nstout, bulky form, and I think it was rather owing to the resources\nof barbarism behind him, in the shape of a huge Amahagger with a\nproportionately huge spear, than to the seductions of the lady who led\nhim by the hand, that he consented to come at all.\n\n\"Well,\" I said to the others, \"I don't at all like the look of things,\nbut I suppose we must face it out. Have you fellows got your revolvers\non? because, if so, you had better see that they are loaded.\"\n\n\"I have, sir,\" said Job, tapping his Colt, \"but Mr. Leo has only got his\nhunting knife, though that is big enough, surely.\"\n\nFeeling that it would not do to wait while the missing weapon was\nfetched, we advanced boldly, and seated ourselves in a line, with our\nbacks against the side of the cave.\n\nAs soon as we were seated, an earthenware jar was passed round\ncontaining a fermented fluid, of by no means unpleasant taste, though\napt to turn upon the stomach, made from crushed grain--not Indian corn,\nbut a small brown grain that grows upon its stem in clusters, not unlike\nthat which in the southern part of Africa is known by the name of Kafir\ncorn. The vase which contained this liquor was very curious, and as\nit more or less resembled many hundreds of others in use among the\nAmahagger I may as well describe it. These vases are of a very ancient\nmanufacture, and of all sizes. None such can have been made in the\ncountry for hundreds, or rather thousands, of years. They are found\nin the rock tombs, of which I shall give a description in their proper\nplace, and my own belief is that, after the fashion of the Egyptians,\nwith whom the former inhabitants of this country may have had some\nconnection, they were used to receive the viscera of the dead. Leo,\nhowever, is of opinion that, as in the case of Etruscan amphoræ, they\nwere placed there for the spiritual use of the deceased. They are mostly\ntwo-handled, and of all sizes, some being nearly three feet in height,\nand running from that down to as many inches. In shape they vary, but\nall are exceedingly beautiful and graceful, being made of a very fine\nblack ware, not lustrous, but slightly rough. On this groundwork are\ninlaid figures much more graceful and lifelike than any others that\nI have seen on antique vases. Some of these inlaid pictures represent\nlove-scenes with a childlike simplicity and freedom of manner which\nwould not commend itself to the taste of the present day. Others again\ngive pictures of maidens dancing, and yet others of hunting-scenes. For\ninstance, the very vase from which we were then drinking had on one side\na most spirited drawing of men, apparently white in colour, attacking a\nbull-elephant with spears, while on the reverse was a picture, not quite\nso well done, of a hunter shooting an arrow at a running antelope, I\nshould say from the look of it either an eland or a koodoo.\n\nThis is a digression at a critical moment, but it is not too long for\nthe occasion, for the occasion itself was very long. With the exception\nof the periodical passing of the vase, and the movement necessary to\nthrow fuel on to the fire, nothing happened for the best part of a whole\nhour. Nobody spoke a word. There we all sat in perfect silence, staring\nat the glare and glow of the large fire, and at the shadows thrown by\nthe flickering earthenware lamps (which, by the way, were not ancient).\nOn the open space between us and the fire lay a large wooden tray,\nwith four short handles to it, exactly like a butcher's tray, only not\nhollowed out. By the side of the tray was a great pair of long-handled\niron pincers, and on the other side of the fire was a similar pair.\nSomehow I did not at all like the appearance of this tray and the\naccompanying pincers. There I sat and stared at them and at the silent\ncircle of the fierce moody faces of the men, and reflected that it\nwas all very awful, and that we were absolutely in the power of this\nalarming people, who, to me at any rate, were all the more formidable\nbecause their true character was still very much of a mystery to us.\nThey might be better than I thought them, or they might be worse. I\nfeared that they were worse, and I was not wrong. It was a curious sort\nof a feast, I reflected, in appearance indeed, an entertainment of the\nBarmecide stamp, for there was absolutely nothing to eat.\n\nAt last, just as I was beginning to feel as though I were being\nmesmerised, a move was made. Without the slightest warning, a man from\nthe other side of the circle called out in a loud voice--\n\n\"Where is the flesh that we shall eat?\"\n\nThereon everybody in the circle answered in a deep measured tone, and\nstretching out the right arm towards the fire as he spoke--\n\n\"_The flesh will come._\"\n\n\"Is it a goat?\" said the same man.\n\n\"_It is a goat without horns, and more than a goat, and we shall slay\nit,_\" they answered with one voice, and turning half round they one and\nall grasped the handles of their spears with the right hand, and then\nsimultaneously let them go.\n\n\"Is it an ox?\" said the man again.\n\n\"_It is an ox without horns, and more than an ox, and we shall slay\nit,_\" was the answer, and again the spears were grasped, and again let\ngo.\n\nThen came a pause, and I noticed, with horror and a rising of the hair,\nthat the woman next to Mahomed began to fondle him, patting his cheeks\nand calling him by names of endearment while her fierce eyes played up\nand down his trembling form. I do not know why the sight frightened me\nso, but it did frighten us all dreadfully, especially Leo. The caressing\nwas so snake-like, and so evidently a part of some ghastly formula that\nhad to be gone through.[*] I saw Mahomed turn white under his brown\nskin, sickly white with fear.\n\n     [*] We afterwards learnt that its object was to pretend to\n     the victim that he was the object of love and admiration,\n     and so to sooth his injured feelings, and cause him to\n     expire in a happy and contented frame of mind.--L. H. H.\n\n\"Is the meat ready to be cooked?\" asked the voice, more rapidly.\n\n\"_It is ready; it is ready._\"\n\n\"Is the pot hot to cook it?\" it continued, in a sort of scream that\nechoed painfully down the great recesses of the cave.\n\n\"_It is hot; it is hot._\"\n\n\"Great heavens!\" roared Leo, \"remember the writing, '_The people who\nplace pots upon the heads of strangers._'\"\n\nAs he said the words, before we could stir, or even take the matter in,\ntwo great ruffians jumped up, and, seizing the long pincers, thrust them\ninto the heart of the fire, and the woman who had been caressing Mahomed\nsuddenly produced a fibre noose from under her girdle or moocha, and,\nslipping it over his shoulders, ran it tight, while the men next to him\nseized him by the legs. The two men with the pincers gave a heave, and,\nscattering the fire this way and that upon the rocky floor, lifted\nfrom it a large earthenware pot, heated to a white heat. In an instant,\nalmost with a single movement, they had reached the spot where Mahomed\nwas struggling. He fought like a fiend, shrieking in the abandonment of\nhis despair, and notwithstanding the noose round him, and the efforts\nof the men who held his legs, the advancing wretches were for the moment\nunable to accomplish their purpose, which, horrible and incredible as it\nseems, was _to put the red-hot pot upon his head_.\n\nI sprang to my feet with a yell of horror, and drawing my revolver fired\nit by a sort of instinct straight at the diabolical woman who had been\ncaressing Mahomed, and was now gripping him in her arms. The bullet\nstruck her in the back and killed her, and to this day I am glad that\nit did, for, as it afterwards transpired, she had availed herself of the\nanthropophagous customs of the Amahagger to organise the whole thing in\nrevenge of the slight put upon her by Job. She sank down dead, and as\nshe did so, to my terror and dismay, Mahomed, by a superhuman effort,\nburst from his tormenters, and, springing high into the air, fell dying\nupon her corpse. The heavy bullet from my pistol had driven through\nthe bodies of both, at once striking down the murderess, and saving her\nvictim from a death a hundred times more horrible. It was an awful and\nyet a most merciful accident.\n\nFor a moment there was a silence of astonishment. The Amahagger had\nnever heard the report of a firearm before, and its effects dismayed\nthem. But the next a man close to us recovered himself, and seized his\nspear preparatory to making a lunge with it at Leo, who was the nearest\nto him.\n\n\"Run for it!\" I shouted, setting the example by starting up the cave as\nhard as my legs would carry me. I would have made for the open air if\nit had been possible, but there were men in the way, and, besides, I\nhad caught sight of the forms of a crowd of people standing out clear\nagainst the skyline beyond the entrance to the cave. Up the cave I went,\nand after me came the others, and after them thundered the whole crowd\nof cannibals, mad with fury at the death of the woman. With a bound I\ncleared the prostrate form of Mahomed. As I flew over him I felt the\nheat from the red-hot pot, which was lying close by, strike upon my\nlegs, and by its glow saw his hands--for he was not quite dead--still\nfeebly moving. At the top of the cave was a little platform of rock\nthree feet or so high by about eight deep, on which two large lamps were\nplaced at night. Whether this platform had been left as a seat, or as a\nraised point afterwards to be cut away when it had served its purpose\nas a standing place from which to carry on the excavations, I do not\nknow--at least, I did not then. At any rate, we all three reached it,\nand, jumping on it, prepared to sell our lives as dearly as we could.\nFor a few seconds the crowd that was pressing on our heels hung back\nwhen they saw us face round upon them. Job was on one side of the rock\nto the left, Leo in the centre, and I to the right. Behind us were\nthe lamps. Leo bent forward, and looked down the long lane of shadows,\nterminating in the fire and lighted lamps, through which the quiet\nforms of our would-be murderers flitted to and fro with the faint light\nglinting on their spears, for even their fury was silent as a bulldog's.\nThe only other thing visible was the red-hot pot still glowing angrily\nin the gloom. There was a curious light in Leo's eyes, and his\nhandsome face was set like a stone. In his right hand was his heavy\nhunting-knife. He shifted its thong a little up his wrist and then put\nhis arm round me and gave me a good hug.\n\n\"Good-bye, old fellow,\" he said, \"my dear friend--my more than father.\nWe have no chance against those scoundrels; they will finish us in a\nfew minutes, and eat us afterwards, I suppose. Good-bye. I led you into\nthis. I hope you will forgive me. Good-bye, Job.\"\n\n\"God's will be done,\" I said, setting my teeth, as I prepared for the\nend. At that moment, with an exclamation, Job lifted his revolver and\nfired, and hit a man--not the man he had aimed at, by the way: anything\nthat Job shot _at_ was perfectly safe.\n\nOn they came with a rush, and I fired too as fast as I could, and\nchecked them--between us, Job and I, besides the woman, killed or\nmortally wounded five men with our pistols before they were emptied.\nBut we had no time to reload, and they still came on in a way that was\nalmost splendid in its recklessness, seeing that they did not know but\nthat we could go on firing for ever.\n\nA great fellow bounded up upon the platform, and Leo struck him dead\nwith one blow of his powerful arm, sending the knife right through him.\nI did the same by another, but Job missed his stroke, and I saw a brawny\nAmahagger grip him by the middle and whirl him off the rock. The knife\nnot being secured by a thong fell from Job's hand as he did so, and, by\na most happy accident for him, lit upon its handle on the rock, just as\nthe body of the Amahagger, who was undermost, struck upon its point and\nwas transfixed upon it. What happened to Job after that I am sure I do\nnot know, but my own impression is that he lay still upon the corpse of\nhis deceased assailant, \"playing 'possum\" as the Americans say. As for\nmyself, I was soon involved in a desperate encounter with two ruffians,\nwho, luckily for me, had left their spears behind them; and for the\nfirst time in my life the great physical power with which Nature has\nendowed me stood me in good stead. I had hacked at the head of one man\nwith my hunting-knife, which was almost as big and heavy as a short\nsword, with such vigour, that the sharp steel had split his skull\ndown to the eyes, and was held so fast by it that as he suddenly fell\nsideways the knife was twisted right out of my hand.\n\nThen it was that the two others sprang upon me. I saw them coming, and\ngot an arm round the waist of each, and down we all fell upon the floor\nof the cave together, rolling over and over. They were strong men, but\nI was mad with rage, and that awful lust for slaughter which will creep\ninto the hearts of the most civilised of us when blows are flying, and\nlife and death tremble on the turn. My arms were round the two swarthy\ndemons, and I hugged them till I heard their ribs crack and crunch up\nbeneath my grip. They twisted and writhed like snakes, and clawed and\nbattered at me with their fists, but I held on. Lying on my back there,\nso that their bodies might protect me from spear thrusts from above, I\nslowly crushed the life out of them, and as I did so, strange as it may\nseem, I thought of what the amiable Head of my College at Cambridge (who\nis a member of the Peace Society) and my brother Fellows would say if by\nclairvoyance they could see me, of all men, playing such a bloody game.\nSoon my assailants grew faint, and almost ceased to struggle, their\nbreath had failed them, and they were dying, but still I dared not leave\nthem, for they died very slowly. I knew that if I relaxed my grip they\nwould revive. The other ruffians probably thought--for we were all three\nlying in the shadow of the ledge--that we were all dead together, at any\nrate they did not interfere with our little tragedy.\n\nI turned my head, and as I lay gasping in the throes of that awful\nstruggle I could see that Leo was off the rock now, for the lamplight\nfell full upon him. He was still on his feet, but in the centre of a\nsurging mass of struggling men, who were striving to pull him down as\nwolves pull down a stag. Up above them towered his beautiful pale face\ncrowned with its bright curls (for Leo is six feet two high), and I saw\nthat he was fighting with a desperate abandonment and energy that was\nat once splendid and hideous to behold. He drove his knife through one\nman--they were so close to and mixed up with him that they could not\nget at him to kill him with their big spears, and they had no knives or\nsticks. The man fell, and then somehow the knife was wrenched from his\nhand, leaving him defenceless, and I thought the end had come. But no;\nwith a desperate effort he broke loose from them, seized the body of the\nman he had just slain, and lifting it high in the air hurled it right at\nthe mob of his assailants, so that the shock and weight of it swept\nsome five or six of them to the earth. But in a minute they were all up\nagain, except one, whose skull was smashed, and had once more fastened\nupon him. And then slowly, and with infinite labour and struggling,\nthe wolves bore the lion down. Once even then he recovered himself, and\nfelled an Amahagger with his fist, but it was more than man could do to\nhold his own for long against so many, and at last he came crashing down\nupon the rock floor, falling as an oak falls, and bearing with him to\nthe earth all those who clung about him. They gripped him by his arms\nand legs, and then cleared off his body.\n\n\"A spear,\" cried a voice--\"a spear to cut his throat, and a vessel to\ncatch his blood.\"\n\nI shut my eyes, for I saw the man coming with a spear, and myself, I\ncould not stir to Leo's help, for I was growing weak, and the two men on\nme were not yet dead, and a deadly sickness overcame me.\n\nThen suddenly there was a disturbance, and involuntarily I opened my\neyes again, and looked towards the scene of murder. The girl Ustane had\nthrown herself on Leo's prostrate form, covering his body with her body,\nand fastening her arms about his neck. They tried to drag her from\nhim, but she twisted her legs round his, and hung on like a bulldog, or\nrather like a creeper to a tree, and they could not. Then they tried to\nstab him in the side without hurting her, but somehow she shielded him,\nand he was only wounded.\n\nAt last they lost patience.\n\n\"Drive the spear through the man and the woman together,\" said a voice,\nthe same voice that had asked the questions at that ghastly feast, \"so\nof a verity shall they be wed.\"\n\nThen I saw the man with the weapon straighten himself for the effort. I\nsaw the cold steel gleam on high, and once more I shut my eyes.\n\nAs I did so I heard the voice of a man thunder out in tones that rang\nand echoed down the rocky ways--\n\n\"_Cease!_\"\n\nThen I fainted, and as I did so it flashed through my darkening mind\nthat I was passing down into the last oblivion of death.\n\n\n\nIX\n\nA LITTLE FOOT\n\nWhen I opened my eyes again I found myself lying on a skin mat not far\nfrom the fire round which we had been gathered for that dreadful feast.\nNear me lay Leo, still apparently in a swoon, and over him was bending\nthe tall form of the girl Ustane, who was washing a deep spear wound\nin his side with cold water preparatory to binding it up with linen.\nLeaning against the wall of the cave behind her was Job, apparently\nuninjured, but bruised and trembling. On the other side of the fire,\ntossed about this way and that, as though they had thrown themselves\ndown to sleep in some moment of absolute exhaustion, were the bodies of\nthose whom we had killed in our frightful struggle for life. I counted\nthem: there were twelve besides the woman, and the corpse of poor\nMahomed, who had died by my hand, which, the fire-stained pot at its\nside, was placed at the end of the irregular line. To the left a body of\nmen were engaged in binding the arms of the survivors of the cannibals\nbehind them, and then fastening them two and two. The villains were\nsubmitting with a look of sulky indifference upon their faces which\naccorded ill with the baffled fury that gleamed in their sombre eyes.\nIn front of these men, directing the operations, stood no other than our\nfriend Billali, looking rather tired, but particularly patriarchal\nwith his flowing beard, and as cool and unconcerned as though he were\nsuperintending the cutting up of an ox.\n\nPresently he turned, and perceiving that I was sitting up advanced\nto me, and with the utmost courtesy said that he trusted that I felt\nbetter. I answered that at present I scarcely knew how I felt, except\nthat I ached all over.\n\nThen he bent down and examined Leo's wound.\n\n\"It is an evil cut,\" he said, \"but the spear has not pierced the\nentrails. He will recover.\"\n\n\"Thanks to thy arrival, my father,\" I answered. \"In another minute we\nshould all have been beyond the reach of recovery, for those devils of\nthine would have slain us as they would have slain our servant,\" and I\npointed towards Mahomed.\n\nThe old man ground his teeth, and I saw an extraordinary expression of\nmalignity light up his eyes.\n\n\"Fear not, my son,\" he answered. \"Vengeance shall be taken on them such\nas would make the flesh twist upon the bones merely to hear of it. To\n_She_ shall they go, and her vengeance shall be worthy of her greatness.\nThat man,\" pointing to Mahomed, \"I tell thee that man would have died a\nmerciful death to the death these hyæna-men shall die. Tell me, I pray\nof thee, how it came about.\"\n\nIn a few words I sketched what had happened.\n\n\"Ah, so,\" he answered. \"Thou seest, my son, here there is a custom that\nif a stranger comes into this country he may be slain by 'the pot,' and\neaten.\"\n\n\"It is hospitality turned upside down,\" I answered feebly. \"In our\ncountry we entertain a stranger, and give him food to eat. Here ye eat\nhim, and are entertained.\"\n\n\"It is a custom,\" he answered, with a shrug. \"Myself I think it an evil\none; but then,\" he added by an afterthought, \"I do not like the taste\nof strangers, especially after they have wandered through the swamps and\nlived on wild-fowl. When _She-who-must-be-obeyed_ sent orders that ye\nwere to be saved alive she said naught of the black man, therefore,\nbeing hyænas, these men lusted after his flesh, and the woman it was,\nwhom thou didst rightly slay, who put it into their evil hearts to\nhot-pot him. Well, they will have their reward. Better for them would it\nbe if they had never seen the light than that they should stand before\n_She_ in her terrible anger. Happy are those of them who died by your\nhands.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" he went on, \"it was a gallant fight that ye fought. Knowest thou\nthat, long-armed old baboon that thou art, thou hast crushed in the ribs\nof those two who are laid out there as though they were but as the shell\non an egg? And the young one, the lion, it was a beautiful stand that\nhe made--one against so many--three did he slay outright, and that one\nthere\"--and he pointed to a body that was still moving a little--\"will\ndie anon, for his head is cracked across, and others of those who are\nbound are hurt. It was a gallant fight, and thou and he have made a\nfriend of me by it, for I love to see a well-fought fray. But tell me,\nmy son, the baboon--and now I think of it thy face, too, is hairy, and\naltogether like a baboon's--how was it that ye slew those with a hole in\nthem?--Ye made a noise, they say, and slew them--they fell down on the\nfaces at the noise?\"\n\nI explained to him as well as I could, but very shortly--for I was\nterribly wearied, and only persuaded to talk at all through fear\nof offending one so powerful if I refused to do so--what were the\nproperties of gunpowder, and he instantly suggested that I should\nillustrate what I said by operating on the person of one of the\nprisoners. One, he said, never would be counted, and it would not only\nbe very interesting to him, but would give me the opportunity of an\ninstalment of revenge. He was greatly astounded when I told him that it\nwas not our custom to avenge ourselves in cold blood, and that we left\nvengeance to the law and a higher power, of which he knew nothing. I\nadded, however, that when I recovered I would take him out shooting\nwith us, and he should kill an animal for himself, and at this he was as\npleased as a child at the promise of a new toy.\n\nJust then Leo opened his eyes beneath the stimulus of some brandy (of\nwhich we still had a little) that Job had poured down his throat, and\nour conversation came to an end.\n\nAfter this we managed to get Leo, who was in a very poor way indeed, and\nonly half conscious, safely off to bed, supported by Job and that brave\ngirl Ustane, to whom, had I not been afraid that she might resent it, I\nwould certainly have given a kiss for her splendid behaviour in saving\nmy boy's life at the risk of her own. But Ustane was not the sort of\nyoung person with whom one would care to take liberties unless one were\nperfectly certain that they would not be misunderstood, so I repressed\nmy inclinations. Then, bruised and battered, but with a sense of safety\nin my breast to which I had for some days been a stranger, I crept off\nto my own little sepulchre, not forgetting before I laid down in it to\nthank Providence from the bottom of my heart that it was not a sepulchre\nindeed, as, save for a merciful combination of events that I can only\nattribute to its protection, it would certainly have been for me that\nnight. Few men have been nearer their end and yet escaped it than we\nwere on that dreadful day.\n\nI am a bad sleeper at the best of times, and my dreams that night when\nat last I got to rest were not of the pleasantest. The awful vision of\npoor Mahomed struggling to escape the red-hot pot would haunt them, and\nthen in the background, as it were, a veiled form was always hovering,\nwhich, from time to time, seemed to draw the coverings from its body,\nrevealing now the perfect shape of a lovely blooming woman, and now\nagain the white bones of a grinning skeleton, and which, as it veiled\nand unveiled, uttered the mysterious and apparently meaningless\nsentence:--\n\n\"That which is alive and hath known death, and that which is dead yet\ncan never die, for in the Circle of the Spirit life is naught and death\nis naught. Yea, all things live for ever, though at times they sleep and\nare forgotten.\"\n\nThe morning came at last, but when it came I found that I was too stiff\nand sore to rise. About seven Job arrived, limping terribly, and with\nhis face the colour of a rotten apple, and told me that Leo had slept\nfairly, but was very weak. Two hours afterwards Billali (Job called\nhim \"Billy-goat,\" to which, indeed, his white beard gave him some\nresemblance, or more familiarly, \"Billy\") came too, bearing a lamp in\nhis hand, his towering form reaching nearly to the roof of the little\nchamber. I pretended to be asleep, and through the cracks of my eyelids\nwatched his sardonic but handsome old face. He fixed his hawk-like eyes\nupon me, and stroked his glorious white beard, which, by the way,\nwould have been worthy a hundred a year to any London barber as an\nadvertisement.\n\n\"Ah!\" I heard him mutter (Billali had a habit of muttering to himself),\n\"he is ugly--ugly as the other is beautiful--a very Baboon, it was a\ngood name. But I like the man. Strange now, at my age, that I should\nlike a man. What says the proverb--'Mistrust all men, and slay him whom\nthou mistrustest overmuch; and as for women, flee from them, for they\nare evil, and in the end will destroy thee.' It is a good proverb,\nespecially the last part of it: I think that it must have come down from\nthe ancients. Nevertheless I like this Baboon, and I wonder where they\ntaught him his tricks, and I trust that _She_ will not bewitch him. Poor\nBaboon! he must be wearied after that fight. I will go lest I should\nawake him.\"\n\nI waited till he had turned and was nearly through the entrance, walking\nsoftly on tiptoe, and then I called after him.\n\n\"My father,\" I said, \"is it thou?\"\n\n\"Yes, my son, it is I; but let me not disturb thee. I did but come to\nsee how thou didst fare, and to tell thee that those who would have\nslain thee, my Baboon, are by now far on their road to _She_. _She_ said\nthat ye also were to come at once, but I fear ye cannot yet.\"\n\n\"Nay,\" I said, \"not till we have recovered a little; but have me borne\nout into the daylight, I pray thee, my father. I love not this place.\"\n\n\"Ah, no,\" he answered, \"it hath a sad air. I remember when I was a boy I\nfound the body of a fair woman lying where thou liest now, yes, on that\nvery bench. She was so beautiful that I was wont to creep in hither with\na lamp and gaze upon her. Had it not been for her cold hands, almost\ncould I think that she slept and would one day awake, so fair and\npeaceful was she in her robes of white. White was she, too, and her\nhair was yellow and lay down her almost to the feet. There are many such\nstill in the tombs at the place where _She_ is, for those who set them\nthere had a way I know naught of, whereby to keep their beloved out of\nthe crumbling hand of Decay, even when Death had slain them. Ay, day\nby day I came hither, and gazed on her till at last--laugh not at me,\nstranger, for I was but a silly lad--I learned to love that dead form,\nthat shell which once had held a life that no more is. I would creep\nup to her and kiss her cold face, and wonder how many men had lived and\ndied since she was, and who had loved her and embraced her in the days\nthat long had passed away. And, my Baboon, I think I learned wisdom from\nthat dead one, for of a truth it taught me of the littleness of life,\nand the length of Death, and how all things that are under the sun go\ndown one path, and are for ever forgotten. And so I mused, and it seemed\nto me that wisdom flowed into me from the dead, till one day my mother,\na watchful woman, but hasty-minded, seeing I was changed, followed me,\nand saw the beautiful white one, and feared that I was bewitched, as,\nindeed, I was. So half in dread, and half in anger, she took up the\nlamp, and standing the dead woman up against the wall even there, set\nfire to her hair, and she burnt fiercely, even down to the feet, for\nthose who are thus kept burn excellently well.\n\n\"See, my son, there on the roof is yet the smoke of her burning.\"\n\nI looked up doubtfully, and there, sure enough, on the roof of the\nsepulchre, was a peculiarly unctuous and sooty mark, three feet or more\nacross. Doubtless it had in the course of years been rubbed off the\nsides of the little cave, but on the roof it remained, and there was no\nmistaking its appearance.\n\n\"She burnt,\" he went on in a meditative way, \"even to the feet, but the\nfeet I came back and saved, cutting the burnt bone from them, and\nhid them under the stone bench there, wrapped up in a piece of linen.\nSurely, I remember it as though it were but yesterday. Perchance they\nare there, if none have found them, even to this hour. Of a truth I have\nnot entered this chamber from that time to this very day. Stay, I will\nlook,\" and, kneeling down, he groped about with his long arm in the\nrecess under the stone bench. Presently his face brightened, and with an\nexclamation he pulled something forth which was caked in dust; which he\nshook on to the floor. It was covered with the remains of a rotting rag,\nwhich he undid, and revealed to my astonished gaze a beautifully shaped\nand almost white woman's foot, looking as fresh and firm as though it\nhad but now been placed there.\n\n\"Thou seest, my son, the Baboon,\" he said, in a sad voice, \"I spake the\ntruth to thee, for here is yet one foot remaining. Take it, my son, and\ngaze upon it.\"\n\nI took this cold fragment of mortality in my hand and looked at it in\nthe light of the lamp with feelings which I cannot describe, so mixed\nup were they between astonishment, fear, and fascination. It was light,\nmuch lighter I should say than it had been in the living state, and the\nflesh to all appearance was still flesh, though about it there clung a\nfaintly aromatic odour. For the rest it was not shrunk or shrivelled, or\neven black and unsightly, like the flesh of Egyptian mummies, but plump\nand fair, and, except where it had been slightly burnt, perfect as on\nthe day of death--a very triumph of embalming.\n\nPoor little foot! I set it down upon the stone bench where it had lain\nfor so many thousand years, and wondered whose was the beauty that\nit had upborne through the pomp and pageantry of a forgotten\ncivilisation--first as a merry child's, then as a blushing maid's, and\nlastly as a perfect woman's. Through what halls of Life had its soft\nstep echoed, and in the end, with what courage had it trodden down the\ndusty ways of Death! To whose side had it stolen in the hush of night\nwhen the black slave slept upon the marble floor, and who had listened\nfor its stealing? Shapely little foot! Well might it have been set upon\nthe proud neck of a conqueror bent at last to woman's beauty, and\nwell might the lips of nobles and of kings have been pressed upon its\njewelled whiteness.\n\nI wrapped up this relic of the past in the remnants of the old linen rag\nwhich had evidently formed a portion of its owner's grave-clothes, for\nit was partially burnt, and put it away in my Gladstone bag--a strange\ncombination, I thought. Then with Billali's help I staggered off to see\nLeo. I found him dreadfully bruised, worse even than myself, perhaps\nowing to the excessive whiteness of his skin, and faint and weak with\nthe loss of blood from the flesh wound in his side, but for all that\ncheerful as a cricket, and asking for some breakfast. Job and Ustane\ngot him on to the bottom, or rather the sacking of a litter, which was\nremoved from its pole for that purpose, and with the aid of old Billali\ncarried him out into the shade at the mouth of the cave, from which, by\nthe way, every trace of the slaughter of the previous night had now been\nremoved, and there we all breakfasted, and indeed spent that day, and\nmost of the two following ones.\n\nOn the third morning Job and myself were practically recovered. Leo also\nwas so much better that I yielded to Billali's often expressed entreaty,\nand agreed to start at once upon our journey to Kôr, which we were told\nwas the name of the place where the mysterious _She_ lived, though I\nstill feared for its effect upon Leo, and especially lest the motion\nshould cause his wound, which was scarcely skinned over, to break open\nagain. Indeed, had it not been for Billali's evident anxiety to get off,\nwhich led us to suspect that some difficulty or danger might threaten us\nif we did not comply with it, I would not have consented to go.\n\n\n\nX\n\nSPECULATIONS\n\nWithin an hour of our finally deciding to start five litters were\nbrought up to the door of the cave, each accompanied by four regular\nbearers and two spare hands, also a band of about fifty armed Amahagger,\nwho were to form the escort and carry the baggage. Three of these\nlitters, of course, were for us, and one for Billali, who, I was\nimmensely relieved to hear, was to be our companion, while the fifth I\npresumed was for the use of Ustane.\n\n\"Does the lady go with us, my father?\" I asked of Billali, as he stood\nsuperintending things in general.\n\nHe shrugged his shoulders as he answered--\n\n\"If she wills. In this country the women do what they please. We worship\nthem, and give them their way, because without them the world could not\ngo on; they are the source of life.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" I said, the matter never having struck me quite in that light\nbefore.\n\n\"We worship them,\" he went on, \"up to a point, till at last they get\nunbearable, which,\" he added, \"they do about every second generation.\"\n\n\"And then what do you do?\" I asked, with curiosity.\n\n\"Then,\" he answered, with a faint smile, \"we rise, and kill the old\nones as an example to the young ones, and to show them that we are the\nstrongest. My poor wife was killed in that way three years ago. It was\nvery sad, but to tell thee the truth, my son, life has been happier\nsince, for my age protects me from the young ones.\"\n\n\"In short,\" I replied, quoting the saying of a great man whose wisdom\nhas not yet lightened the darkness of the Amahagger, \"thou hast found\nthy position one of greater freedom and less responsibility.\"\n\nThis phrase puzzled him a little at first from its vagueness, though I\nthink my translation hit off its sense very well, but at last he saw it,\nand appreciated it.\n\n\"Yes, yes, my Baboon,\" he said, \"I see it now, but all the\n'responsibilities' are killed, at least some of them are, and that is\nwhy there are so few old women about just now. Well, they brought it on\nthemselves. As for this girl,\" he went on, in a graver tone, \"I know\nnot what to say. She is a brave girl, and she loves the Lion (Leo); thou\nsawest how she clung to him, and saved his life. Also, she is, according\nto our custom, wed to him, and has a right to go where he goes, unless,\"\nhe added significantly, \"_She_ would say her no, for her word overrides\nall rights.\"\n\n\"And if _She_ bade her leave him, and the girl refused? What then?\"\n\n\"If,\" he said, with a shrug, \"the hurricane bids the tree to bend, and\nit will not; what happens?\"\n\nAnd then, without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked to his\nlitter, and in ten minutes from that time we were all well under way.\n\nIt took us an hour and more to cross the cup of the volcanic plain,\nand another half-hour or so to climb the edge on the farther side. Once\nthere, however, the view was a very fine one. Before us was a long steep\nslope of grassy plain, broken here and there by clumps of trees mostly\nof the thorn tribe. At the bottom of this gentle slope, some nine or ten\nmiles away, we could make out a dim sea of marsh, over which the foul\nvapours hung like smoke about a city. It was easy going for the bearers\ndown the slopes, and by midday we had reached the borders of the dismal\nswamp. Here we halted to eat our midday meal, and then, following a\nwinding and devious path, plunged into the morass. Presently the path,\nat any rate to our unaccustomed eyes, grew so faint as to be almost\nindistinguishable from those made by the aquatic beasts and birds, and\nit is to this day a mystery to me how our bearers found their way across\nthe marshes. Ahead of the cavalcade marched two men with long poles,\nwhich they now and again plunged into the ground before them, the reason\nof this being that the nature of the soil frequently changed from causes\nwith which I am not acquainted, so that places which might be safe\nenough to cross one month would certainly swallow the wayfarer the next.\nNever did I see a more dreary and depressing scene. Miles on miles of\nquagmire, varied only by bright green strips of comparatively solid\nground, and by deep and sullen pools fringed with tall rushes, in which\nthe bitterns boomed and the frogs croaked incessantly: miles on miles of\nit without a break, unless the fever fog can be called a break. The only\nlife in this great morass was that of the aquatic birds, and the animals\nthat fed on them, of both of which there were vast numbers. Geese,\ncranes, ducks, teal, coot, snipe, and plover swarmed all around us, many\nbeing of varieties that were quite new to me, and all so tame that one\ncould almost have knocked them over with a stick. Among these birds I\nespecially noticed a very beautiful variety of painted snipe, almost the\nsize of a woodcock, and with a flight more resembling that bird's than\nan English snipe's. In the pools, too, was a species of small alligator\nor enormous iguana, I do not know which, that fed, Billali told me, upon\nthe waterfowl, also large quantities of a hideous black water-snake, of\nwhich the bite is very dangerous, though not, I gathered, so deadly as a\ncobra's or a puff adder's. The bull-frogs were also very large, and\nwith voices proportionate to their size; and as for the mosquitoes--the\n\"musqueteers,\" as Job called them--they were, if possible, even worse\nthan they had been on the river, and tormented us greatly. Undoubtedly,\nhowever, the worst feature of the swamp was the awful smell of\nrotting vegetation that hung about it, which was at times positively\noverpowering, and the malarious exhalations that accompanied it, which\nwe were of course obliged to breathe.\n\nOn we went through it all, till at last the sun sank in sullen splendour\njust as we reached a spot of rising ground about two acres in extent--a\nlittle oasis of dry in the midst of the miry wilderness--where Billali\nannounced that we were to camp. The camping, however, turned out to be\na very simple process, and consisted, in fact, in sitting down on the\nground round a scanty fire made of dry reeds and some wood that had been\nbrought with us. However, we made the best we could of it, and smoked\nand ate with such appetite as the smell of damp, stifling heat would\nallow, for it was very hot on this low land, and yet, oddly enough,\nchilly at times. But, however hot it was, we were glad enough to keep\nnear the fire, because we found that the mosquitoes did not like the\nsmoke. Presently we rolled ourselves up in our blankets and tried to\ngo to sleep, but so far as I was concerned the bull-frogs, and the\nextraordinary roaring and alarming sound produced by hundreds of snipe\nhovering high in the air, made sleep an impossibility, to say nothing of\nour other discomforts. I turned and looked at Leo, who was next me; he\nwas dozing, but his face had a flushed appearance that I did not like,\nand by the flickering fire-light I saw Ustane, who was lying on the\nother side of him, raise herself from time to time upon her elbow, and\nlook at him anxiously enough.\n\nHowever, I could do nothing for him, for we had all already taken a\ngood dose of quinine, which was the only preventive we had; so I lay and\nwatched the stars come out by thousands, till all the immense arch of\nheaven was strewn with glittering points, and every point a world!\nHere was a glorious sight by which man might well measure his own\ninsignificance! Soon I gave up thinking about it, for the mind wearies\neasily when it strives to grapple with the Infinite, and to trace the\nfootsteps of the Almighty as he strides from sphere to sphere, or\ndeduce His purpose from His works. Such things are not for us to know.\nKnowledge is to the strong, and we are weak. Too much wisdom would\nperchance blind our imperfect sight, and too much strength would make\nus drunk, and over-weight our feeble reason till it fell and we were\ndrowned in the depths of our own vanity. For what is the first result\nof man's increased knowledge interpreted from Nature's book by the\npersistent effort of his purblind observation? It is not but too often\nto make him question the existence of his Maker, or indeed of any\nintelligent purpose beyond his own? The truth is veiled, because we\ncould no more look upon her glory than we can upon the sun. It would\ndestroy us. Full knowledge is not for man as man is here, for his\ncapacities, which he is apt to think so great, are indeed but small. The\nvessel is soon filled, and, were one-thousandth part of the unutterable\nand silent wisdom that directs the rolling of those shining spheres, and\nthe Force which makes them roll, pressed into it, it would be shattered\ninto fragments. Perhaps in some other place and time it may be\notherwise, who can tell? Here the lot of man born of the flesh is but\nto endure midst toil and tribulation, to catch at the bubbles blown by\nFate, which he calls pleasure, thankful if before they burst they rest\na moment in his hand, and when the tragedy is played out, and his hour\ncomes to perish, to pass humbly whither he knows not.\n\nAbove me, as I lay, shone the eternal stars, and there at my feet the\nimpish marsh-born balls of fire rolled this way and that, vapour-tossed\nand earth-desiring, and methought that in the two I saw a type and image\nof what man is, and what perchance man may one day be, if the living\nForce who ordained him and them should so ordain this also. Oh, that it\nmight be ours to rest year by year upon that high level of the heart to\nwhich at times we momentarily attain! Oh, that we could shake loose the\nprisoned pinions of the soul and soar to that superior point, whence,\nlike to some traveller looking out through space from Darien's giddiest\npeak, we might gaze with spiritual eyes deep into Infinity!\n\nWhat would it be to cast off this earthy robe, to have done for ever\nwith these earthy thoughts and miserable desires; no longer, like those\ncorpse candles, to be tossed this way and that, by forces beyond our\ncontrol; or which, if we can theoretically control them, we are at times\ndriven by the exigencies of our nature to obey! Yes, to cast them off,\nto have done with the foul and thorny places of the world; and, like to\nthose glittering points above me, to rest on high wrapped for ever in\nthe brightness of our better selves, that even now shines in us as fire\nfaintly shines within those lurid balls, and lay down our littleness in\nthat wide glory of our dreams, that invisible but surrounding Good, from\nwhich all truth and beauty comes!\n\nThese and many such thoughts passed through my mind that night. They\ncome to torment us all at times. I say to torment, for, alas! thinking\ncan only serve to measure out the helplessness of thought. What is the\npurpose of our feeble crying in the awful silences of space? Can our dim\nintelligence read the secrets of that star-strewn sky? Does any answer\ncome out of it? Never any at all, nothing but echoes and fantastic\nvisions! And yet we believe that there is an answer, and that upon a\ntime a new Dawn will come blushing down the ways of our enduring night.\nWe believe it, for its reflected beauty even now shines up continually\nin our hearts from beneath the horizon of the grave, and we call it\nHope. Without Hope we should suffer moral death, and by the help of Hope\nwe yet may climb to Heaven, or at the worst, if she also prove but a\nkindly mockery given to hold us from despair, be gently lowered into the\nabysses of eternal sleep.\n\nThen I fell to reflecting upon the undertaking on which we were bent,\nand what a wild one it was, and yet how strangely the story seemed to\nfit in with what had been written centuries ago upon the sherd. Who\nwas this extraordinary woman, Queen over a people apparently as\nextraordinary as herself, and reigning amidst the vestiges of a lost\ncivilisation? And what was the meaning of this story of the Fire that\ngave unending life? Could it be possible that any fluid or essence\nshould exist which might so fortify these fleshy walls that they\nshould from age to age resist the mines and batterings of decay? It was\npossible, though not probable. The infinite continuation of life would\nnot, as poor Vincey said, be so marvellous a thing as the production of\nlife and its temporary endurance. And if it were true, what then? The\nperson who found it could no doubt rule the world. He could accumulate\nall the wealth in the world, and all the power, and all the wisdom that\nis power. He might give a lifetime to the study of each art or science.\nWell, if that were so, and this _She_ were practically immortal, which\nI did not for one moment believe, how was it that, with all these things\nat her feet, she preferred to remain in a cave amongst a society\nof cannibals? This surely settled the question. The whole story was\nmonstrous, and only worthy of the superstitious days in which it was\nwritten. At any rate I was very sure that _I_ would not attempt to\nattain unending life. I had had far too many worries and disappointments\nand secret bitternesses during my forty odd years of existence to wish\nthat this state of affairs should be continued indefinitely. And yet I\nsuppose that my life has been, comparatively speaking, a happy one.\n\nAnd then, reflecting that at the present moment there was far more\nlikelihood of our earthly careers being cut exceedingly short than of\ntheir being unduly prolonged, I at last managed to get to sleep, a fact\nfor which anybody who reads this narrative, if anybody ever does, may\nvery probably be thankful.\n\nWhen I woke again it was just dawning, and the guard and bearers were\nmoving about like ghosts through the dense morning mists, getting ready\nfor our start. The fire had died quite down, and I rose and stretched\nmyself, shivering in every limb from the damp cold of the dawn. Then I\nlooked at Leo. He was sitting up, holding his hands to his head, and I\nsaw that his face was flushed and his eye bright, and yet yellow round\nthe pupil.\n\n\"Well, Leo,\" I said, \"how do you feel?\"\n\n\"I feel as though I were going to die,\" he answered hoarsely. \"My head\nis splitting, my body is trembling, and I am as sick as a cat.\"\n\nI whistled, or if I did not whistle I felt inclined to--Leo had got a\nsharp attack of fever. I went to Job, and asked him for the quinine,\nof which fortunately we had still a good supply, only to find that Job\nhimself was not much better. He complained of pains across the back, and\ndizziness, and was almost incapable of helping himself. Then I did the\nonly thing it was possible to do under the circumstances--gave them both\nabout ten grains of quinine, and took a slightly smaller dose myself as\na matter of precaution. After that I found Billali, and explained to him\nhow matters stood, asking at the same time what he thought had best be\ndone. He came with me, and looked at Leo and Job (whom, by the way,\nhe had named the Pig on account of his fatness, round face, and small\neyes).\n\n\"Ah,\" he said, when we were out of earshot, \"the fever! I thought so.\nThe Lion has it badly, but he is young, and he may live. As for the Pig,\nhis attack is not so bad; it is the 'little fever' which he has; that\nalways begins with pains across the back, it will spend itself upon his\nfat.\"\n\n\"Can they go on, my father?\" I asked.\n\n\"Nay, my son, they must go on. If they stop here they will certainly\ndie; also, they will be better in the litters than on the ground. By\nto-night, if all goes well, we shall be across the marsh and in good\nair. Come, let us lift them into the litters and start, for it is very\nbad to stand still in this morning fog. We can eat our meal as we go.\"\n\nThis we accordingly did, and with a heavy heart I once more set out upon\nour strange journey. For the first three hours all went as well as\ncould be expected, and then an accident happened that nearly lost us the\npleasure of the company of our venerable friend Billali, whose litter\nwas leading the cavalcade. We were going through a particularly\ndangerous stretch of quagmire, in which the bearers sometimes sank up to\ntheir knees. Indeed, it was a mystery to me how they contrived to\ncarry the heavy litters at all over such ground as that which we were\ntraversing, though the two spare hands, as well as the four regular\nones, had of course to put their shoulders to the pole.\n\nPresently, as we blundered and floundered along, there was a sharp\ncry, then a storm of exclamations, and, last of all, a most tremendous\nsplash, and the whole caravan halted.\n\nI jumped out of my litter and ran forward. About twenty yards ahead was\nthe edge of one of those sullen peaty pools of which I have spoken, the\npath we were following running along the top of its bank, that, as it\nhappened, was a steep one. Looking towards this pool, to my horror I saw\nthat Billali's litter was floating on it, and as for Billali himself, he\nwas nowhere to be seen. To make matters clear I may as well explain\nat once what had happened. One of Billali's bearers had unfortunately\ntrodden on a basking snake, which had bitten him in the leg, whereon he\nhad, not unnaturally, let go of the pole, and then, finding that he\nwas tumbling down the bank, grasped at the litter to save himself. The\nresult of this was what might have been expected. The litter was pulled\nover the edge of the bank, the bearers let go, and the whole thing,\nincluding Billali and the man who had been bitten, rolled into the slimy\npool. When I got to the edge of the water neither of them were to be\nseen; indeed, the unfortunate bearer never was seen again. Either he\nstruck his head against something, or get wedged in the mud, or possibly\nthe snake-bite paralyzed him. At any rate he vanished. But though\nBillali was not to be seen, his whereabouts was clear enough from the\nagitation of the floating litter, in the bearing cloth and curtains of\nwhich he was entangled.\n\n\"He is there! Our father is there!\" said one of the men, but he did not\nstir a finger to help him, nor did any of the others. They simply stood\nand stared at the water.\n\n\"Out of the way, you brutes!\" I shouted in English, and throwing off my\nhat I took a run and sprang well out into the horrid slimy-looking pool.\nA couple of strokes took me to where Billali was struggling beneath the\ncloth.\n\nSomehow, I do not quite know how, I managed to push it free of him,\nand his venerable head all covered with green slime, like that of a\nyellowish Bacchus with ivy leaves, emerged upon the surface of the\nwater. The rest was easy, for Billali was an eminently practical\nindividual, and had the common sense not to grasp hold of me as drowning\npeople often do, so I got him by the arm, and towed him to the bank,\nthrough the mud [out] of which we were with difficulty dragged. Such a filthy\nspectacle as we presented I have never seen before or since, and it will\nperhaps give some idea of the almost superhuman dignity of Billali's\nappearance when I say that, coughing, half-drowned, and covered with mud\nand green slime as he was, with his beautiful beard coming to a dripping\npoint, like a Chinaman's freshly-oiled pig-tail, he still looked\nvenerable and imposing.\n\n\"Ye dogs,\" he said, addressing the bearers, as soon as he had\nsufficiently recovered to speak, \"ye left me, your father, to drown.\nHad it not been for this stranger, my son the Baboon, assuredly I should\nhave drowned. Well, I will remember it,\" and he fixed them with his\ngleaming though slightly watery eye, in a way I saw that they did not\nlike, though they tried to appear sulkily indifferent.\n\n\"As for thee, my son,\" the old man went on, turning towards me and\ngrasping my hand, \"rest assured that I am thy friend through good and\nevil. Thou hast saved my life: perchance a day may come when I shall\nsave thine.\"\n\nAfter that we cleaned ourselves as best we could, fished out the litter,\nand went on, _minus_ the man who had been drowned. I do not know if\nit was owing to his being an unpopular character, or from native\nindifference and selfishness of temperament, but I am bound to say that\nnobody seemed to grieve much over his sudden and final disappearance,\nunless, perhaps, it was the men who had to do his share of the work.\n\n\n\nXI\n\nTHE PLAIN OF KÔR\n\nAbout an hour before sundown we at last, to my unbounded gratitude,\nemerged from the great belt of marsh on to land that swelled upwards in\na succession of rolling waves. Just on the hither side of the crest\nof the first wave we halted for the night. My first act was to examine\nLeo's condition. It was, if anything, worse than in the morning, and a\nnew and very distressing feature, vomiting, set in, and continued till\ndawn. Not one wink of sleep did I get that night, for I passed it in\nassisting Ustane, who was one of the most gentle and indefatigable\nnurses I ever saw, to wait upon Leo and Job. However, the air here was\nwarm and genial without being too hot, and there were no mosquitoes\nto speak of. Also we were above the level of the marsh mist, which lay\nstretched beneath us like the dim smoke-pall over a city, lit up here\nand there by the wandering globes of fen fire. Thus it will be seen that\nwe were, speaking comparatively, in clover.\n\nBy dawn on the following morning Leo was quite light-headed, and fancied\nthat he was divided into halves. I was dreadfully distressed, and began\nto wonder with a sort of sick fear what the end of the attack would be.\nAlas! I had heard but too much of how these attacks generally terminate.\nAs I was wondering Billali came up and said that we must be getting on,\nmore especially as, in his opinion, if Leo did not reach some spot\nwhere he could be quiet, and have proper nursing, within the next twelve\nhours, his life would only be a matter of a day or two. I could not but\nagree with him, so we got Leo into the litter, and started on, Ustane\nwalking by his side to keep the flies off him, and see that he did not\nthrow himself out on to the ground.\n\nWithin half an hour of sunrise we had reached the top of the rise of\nwhich I have spoken, and a most beautiful view broke upon our gaze.\nBeneath us was a rich stretch of country, verdant with grass and lovely\nwith foliage and flowers. In the background, at a distance, so far as I\ncould judge, of some eighteen miles from where we then stood, a huge and\nextraordinary mountain rose abruptly from the plain. The base of this\ngreat mountain appeared to consist of a grassy slope, but rising from\nthis, I should say, from subsequent observation, at a height of about\nfive hundred feet above the level of the plain, was a most tremendous\nand absolutely precipitous wall of bare rock, quite twelve or fifteen\nhundred feet in height. The shape of the mountain, which was undoubtedly\nof volcanic origin, was round, and of course, as only a segment of its\ncircle was visible, it was difficult to estimate its exact size, which\nwas enormous. I afterwards discovered that it could cover less than\nfifty square miles of ground. Anything more grand and imposing than\nthe sight presented by this great natural castle, starting in solitary\ngrandeur from the level of the plain, I never saw, and I suppose I never\nshall. Its very solitude added to its majesty, and its towering cliffs\nseemed to kiss the sky. Indeed, generally speaking, they were clothed in\nclouds that lay in fleecy masses upon their broad and level battlements.\n\nI sat up in my hammock and gazed out across the plain at this thrilling\nand majestic sight, and I suppose that Billali noticed it, for he\nbrought his litter alongside.\n\n\"Behold the house of '_She-who-must-be-obeyed_!'\" he said. \"Had ever a\nqueen such a throne before?\"\n\n\"It is wonderful, my father,\" I answered. \"But how do we enter. Those\ncliffs look hard to climb.\"\n\n\"Thou shalt see, my Baboon. Look now at the path below us. What thinkest\nthou that it is? Thou art a wise man. Come, tell me.\"\n\nI looked, and saw what appeared to be the line of roadway running\nstraight towards the base of the mountain, though it was covered with\nturf. There were high banks on each side of it, broken here and there,\nbut fairly continuous on the whole, the meaning of which I did not\nunderstand. It seemed so very odd that anybody should embank a roadway.\n\n\"Well, my father,\" I answered, \"I suppose that it is a road, otherwise\nI should have been inclined to say that it was the bed of a river, or\nrather,\" I added, observing the extraordinary directness of the cutting,\n\"of a canal.\"\n\nBillali--who, by the way, was none the worse for his immersion of the\nday before--nodded his head sagely as he replied--\n\n\"Thou art right, my son. It is a channel cut out by those who were\nbefore us in this place to carry away water. Of this I am sure: within\nthe rocky circle of the mountain whither we journey was once a great\nlake. But those who were before us, by wonderful arts of which I\nknow naught, hewed a path for the water through the solid rock of the\nmountain, piercing even to the bed of the lake. But first they cut the\nchannel that thou seest across the plain. Then, when at last the water\nburst out, it rushed down the channel that had been made to receive it,\nand crossed this plain till it reached the low land behind the rise,\nand there, perchance, it made the swamp through which we have come. Then\nwhen the lake was drained dry, the people whereof I speak built a mighty\ncity on its bed, whereof naught but ruins and the name of Kôr yet\nremaineth, and from age to age hewed the caves and passages that thou\nwilt see.\"\n\n\"It may be,\" I answered; \"but if so, how is it that the lake does not\nfill up again with the rains and the water of the springs?\"\n\n\"Nay, my son, the people were a wise people, and they left a drain to\nkeep it clear. Seest thou the river to the right?\" and he pointed to a\nfair-sized stream that wound away across the plain, some four miles from\nus. \"That is the drain, and it comes out through the mountain wall where\nthis cutting goes in. At first, perhaps, the water ran down this canal,\nbut afterwards the people turned it, and used the cutting for a road.\"\n\n\"And is there then no other place where one may enter into the great\nmountain,\" I asked, \"except through that drain?\"\n\n\"There is a place,\" he answered, \"where cattle and men on foot may cross\nwith much labour, but it is secret. A year mightest thou search and\nshouldst never find it. It is only used once a year, when the herds of\ncattle that have been fatting on the slopes of the mountain, and on this\nplain, are driven into the space within.\"\n\n\"And does _She_ live there always?\" I asked, \"or does she come at times\nwithout the mountain?\"\n\n\"Nay, my son, where she is, there she is.\"\n\nBy now we were well on to the great plain, and I was examining with\ndelight the varied beauty of its semi-tropical flowers and trees, the\nlatter of which grew singly, or at most in clumps of three or four, much\nof the timber being of large size, and belonging apparently to a variety\nof evergreen oak. There were also many palms, some of them more than one\nhundred feet high, and the largest and most beautiful tree ferns that\nI ever saw, about which hung clouds of jewelled honeysuckers and\ngreat-winged butterflies. Wandering about among the trees or crouching\nin the long and feathered grass were all varieties of game, from\nrhinocerotes down. I saw a rhinoceros, buffalo (a large herd), eland,\nquagga, and sable antelope, the most beautiful of all the bucks, not\nto mention many smaller varieties of game, and three ostriches which\nscudded away at our approach like white drift before a gale. So\nplentiful was the game that at last I could stand it no longer. I had\na single barrel sporting Martini with me in the litter, the \"Express\"\nbeing too cumbersome, and espying a beautiful fat eland rubbing himself\nunder one of the oak-like trees, I jumped out of the litter, and\nproceeded to creep as near to him as I could. He let me come within\neighty yards, and then turned his head, and stared at me, preparatory to\nrunning away. I lifted the rifle, and taking him about midway down the\nshoulder, for he was side on to me, fired. I never made a cleaner shot\nor a better kill in all my small experience, for the great buck sprang\nright up into the air and fell dead. The bearers, who had all halted to\nsee the performance, gave a murmur of surprise, an unwonted compliment\nfrom these sullen people, who never appear to be surprised at anything,\nand a party of the guard at once ran off to cut the animal up. As for\nmyself, though I was longing to have a look at him, I sauntered back\nto my litter as though I had been in the habit of killing eland all my\nlife, feeling that I had gone up several degrees in the estimation\nof the Amahagger, who looked on the whole thing as a very high-class\nmanifestation of witchcraft. As a matter of fact, however, I had\nnever seen an eland in a wild state before. Billali received me with\nenthusiasm.\n\n\"It is wonderful, my son the Baboon,\" he cried; \"wonderful! Thou art\na very great man, though so ugly. Had I not seen, surely I would never\nhave believed. And thou sayest that thou wilt teach me to slay in this\nfashion?\"\n\n\"Certainly, my father,\" I said airily; \"it is nothing.\"\n\nBut all the same I firmly made up my mind that when \"my father\" Billali\nbegan to fire I would without fail lie down or take refuge behind a\ntree.\n\nAfter this little incident nothing happened of any note till about an\nhour and a half before sundown, when we arrived beneath the shadow of\nthe towering volcanic mass that I have already described. It is quite\nimpossible for me to describe its grim grandeur as it appeared to me\nwhile my patient bearers toiled along the bed of the ancient watercourse\ntowards the spot where the rich brown-hued cliff shot up from precipice\nto precipice till its crown lost itself in a cloud. All I can say is\nthat it almost awed me by the intensity of its lonesome and most solemn\ngreatness. On we went up the bright and sunny slope, till at last the\ncreeping shadows from above swallowed up its brightness, and presently\nwe began to pass through a cutting hewn in the living rock. Deeper\nand deeper grew this marvellous work, which must, I should say, have\nemployed thousands of men for many years. Indeed, how it was ever\nexecuted at all without the aid of blasting-powder or dynamite I cannot\nto this day imagine. It is and must remain one of the mysteries of that\nwild land. I can only suppose that these cuttings and the vast caves\nthat had been hollowed out of the rocks they pierced were the State\nundertakings of the people of Kôr, who lived here in the dim lost\nages of the world, and, as in the case of the Egyptian monuments, were\nexecuted by the forced labour of tens of thousands of captives, carried\non through an indefinite number of centuries. But who were the people?\n\nAt last we reached the face of the precipice itself, and found ourselves\nlooking into the mouth of a dark tunnel that forcibly reminded me of\nthose undertaken by our nineteenth-century engineers in the construction\nof railway lines. Out of this tunnel flowed a considerable stream of\nwater. Indeed, though I do not think that I have mentioned it, we had\nfollowed this stream, which ultimately developed into the river I have\nalready described as winding away to the right, from the spot where\nthe cutting in the solid rock commenced. Half of this cutting formed a\nchannel for the stream, and half, which was placed on a slightly higher\nlevel--eight feet perhaps--was devoted to the purposes of a roadway. At\nthe termination of the cutting, however, the stream turned off across\nthe plain and followed a channel of its own. At the mouth of the cave\nthe cavalcade was halted, and, while the men employed themselves in\nlighting some earthenware lamps they had brought with them, Billali,\ndescending from his litter, informed me politely but firmly that the\norders of _She_ were that we were now to be blindfolded, so that we\nshould not learn the secret of the paths through the bowels of the\nmountains. To this I, of course, assented cheerfully enough, but Job,\nwho was now very much better, notwithstanding the journey, did not like\nit at all, fancying, I believe, that it was but a preliminary step to\nbeing hot-potted. He was, however, a little consoled when I pointed out\nto him that there were no hot pots at hand, and, so far as I knew, no\nfire to heat them in. As for poor Leo, after turning restlessly for\nhours, he had, to my deep thankfulness, at last dropped off into a sleep\nor stupor, I do not know which, so there was no need to blindfold him.\nThe blindfolding was performed by binding a piece of the yellowish linen\nwhereof those of the Amahagger who condescended to wear anything in\nparticular made their dresses, tightly round the eyes. This linen I\nafterwards discovered was taken from the tombs, and was not, as I had at\nfirst supposed, of native manufacture. The bandage was then knotted at\nthe back of the head, and finally brought down again and the ends bound\nunder the chin to prevent its slipping. Ustane was, by the way, also\nblindfolded, I do not know why, unless it was from fear that she should\nimpart the secrets of the route to us.\n\nThis operation performed we started on once more, and soon, by the\nechoing sound of the footsteps of the bearers and the increased noise\nof the water caused by reverberation in a confined space, I knew that\nwe were entering into the bowels of the great mountain. It was an eerie\nsensation, being borne along into the dead heart of the rock we knew not\nwhither, but I was getting used to eerie sensations by this time, and by\nnow was pretty well prepared for anything. So I lay still, and listened\nto the tramp, tramp of the bearers and the rushing of the water, and\ntried to believe that I was enjoying myself. Presently the men set up\nthe melancholy little chant that I had heard on the first night when we\nwere captured in the whaleboat, and the effect produced by their voices\nwas very curious, and quite indescribable. After a while the air began\nto get exceedingly thick and heavy, so much so, indeed, that I felt as\nthough I were going to choke, till at length the litter took a sharp\nturn, then another and another, and the sound of the running water\nceased. After this the air was fresher again, but the turns were\ncontinuous, and to me, blindfolded as I was, most bewildering. I tried\nto keep a map of them in my mind in case it might ever be necessary\nfor us to try and escape by this route, but, needless to say, failed\nutterly. Another half-hour or so passed, and then suddenly I became\naware that we were once more in the open air. I could see the light\nthrough my bandage and feel its freshness on my face. A few more minutes\nand the caravan halted, and I heard Billali order Ustane to remove her\nbandage and undo ours. Without waiting for her attentions I got the knot\nof mine loose, and looked out.\n\nAs I anticipated, we had passed right through the precipice, and were\nnow on the farther side, and immediately beneath its beetling face. The\nfirst thing I noticed was that the cliff is not nearly so high here, not\nso high I should say by five hundred feet, which proved that the bed of\nthe lake, or rather of the vast ancient crater in which we stood, was\nmuch above the level of the surrounding plain. For the rest, we found\nourselves in a huge rock-surrounded cup, not unlike that of the first\nplace where we had sojourned, only ten times the size. Indeed, I could\nonly just make out the frowning line of the opposite cliffs. A great\nportion of the plain thus enclosed by nature was cultivated, and fenced\nin with walls of stone placed there to keep the cattle and goats, of\nwhich there were large herds about, from breaking into the gardens.\nHere and there rose great grass mounds, and some miles away towards the\ncentre I thought that I could see the outline of colossal ruins. I had\nno time to observe anything more at the moment, for we were instantly\nsurrounded by crowds of Amahagger, similar in every particular to those\nwith whom we were already familiar, who, though they spoke little,\npressed round us so closely as to obscure the view to a person lying\nin a hammock. Then all of a sudden a number of armed men arranged in\ncompanies, and marshalled by officers who held ivory wands in their\nhands, came running swiftly towards us, having, so far as I could\nmake out, emerged from the face of the precipice like ants from their\nburrows. These men as well as their officers were all robed in addition\nto the usual leopard skin, and, as I gathered, formed the bodyguard of\n_She_ herself.\n\nTheir leader advanced to Billali, saluted him by placing his ivory wand\ntransversely across his forehead, and then asked some question which\nI could not catch, and Billali having answered him the whole regiment\nturned and marched along the side of the cliff, our cavalcade of litters\nfollowing in their track. After going thus for about half a mile we\nhalted once more in front of the mouth of a tremendous cave, measuring\nabout sixty feet in height by eighty wide, and here Billali descended\nfinally, and requested Job and myself to do the same. Leo, of course,\nwas far too ill to do anything of the sort. I did so, and we entered the\ngreat cave, into which the light of the setting sun penetrated for\nsome distance, while beyond the reach of the daylight it was faintly\nilluminated with lamps which seemed to me to stretch away for an almost\nimmeasurable distance, like the gas lights of an empty London street.\nThe first thing I noticed was that the walls were covered with\nsculptures in bas-relief, of a sort, pictorially speaking, similar to\nthose that I have described upon the vases;--love-scenes principally,\nthen hunting pictures, pictures of executions, and the torture of\ncriminals by the placing of a, presumably, red-hot pot upon the head,\nshowing whence our hosts had derived this pleasant practice. There\nwere very few battle-pieces, though many of duels, and men running and\nwrestling, and from this fact I am led to believe that this people were\nnot much subject to attack by exterior foes, either on account of the\nisolation of their position or because of their great strength. Between\nthe pictures were columns of stone characters of a formation absolutely\nnew to me; at any rate, they were neither Greek nor Egyptian, nor\nHebrew, nor Assyrian--that I am sure of. They looked more like Chinese\nwritings than any other that I am acquainted with. Near to the entrance\nof the cave both pictures and writings were worn away, but further in\nthey were in many cases absolutely fresh and perfect as the day on which\nthe sculptor had ceased work on them.\n\nThe regiment of guards did not come further than the entrance to the\ncave, where they formed up to let us pass through. On entering the place\nitself we were, however, met by a man robed in white, who bowed humbly,\nbut said nothing, which, as it afterwards appeared that he was a deaf\nmute, was not very wonderful.\n\nRunning at right angles to the great cave, at a distance of some twenty\nfeet from the entrance, was a smaller cave or wide gallery, that was\npierced into the rock both to the right and to the left of the main\ncavern. In front of the gallery to our left stood two guards, from which\ncircumstance I argued that it was the entrance to the apartments of\n_She_ herself. The mouth of the right-hand gallery was unguarded, and\nalong it the mute indicated that we were to go. Walking a few yards down\nthis passage, which was lighted with lamps, we came to the entrance of\na chamber having a curtain made of some grass material, not unlike a\nZanzibar mat in appearance, hung over the doorway. This the mute drew\nback with another profound obeisance, and led the way into a good-sized\napartment, hewn, of course, out of the solid rock, but to my great\nrelief lighted by means of a shaft pierced in the face of the precipice.\nIn this room was a stone bedstead, pots full of water for washing, and\nbeautifully tanned leopard skins to serve as blankets.\n\nHere we left Leo, who was still sleeping heavily, and with him stopped\nUstane. I noticed that the mute gave her a very sharp look, as much\nas to say, \"Who are you, and by whose order do you come here?\" Then he\nconducted us to another similar room which Job took, and then to two\nmore that were respectively occupied by Billali and myself.\n\n\n\nXII\n\n\"SHE\"\n\nThe first care of Job and myself, after seeing to Leo, was to wash\nourselves and put on clean clothing, for what we were wearing had not\nbeen changed since the loss of the dhow. Fortunately, as I think that\nI have said, by far the greater part of our personal baggage had been\npacked into the whaleboat, and was therefore saved--and brought hither\nby the bearers--although all the stores laid in by us for barter and\npresents to the natives was lost. Nearly all our clothing was made of a\nwell-shrunk and very strong grey flannel, and excellent I found it for\ntravelling in these places, because though a Norfolk jacket, shirt,\nand pair of trousers of it only weighed about four pounds, a great\nconsideration in a tropical country, where every extra ounce tells on\nthe wearer, it was warm, and offered a good resistance to the rays of\nthe sun, and best of all to chills, which are so apt to result from\nsudden changes of temperature.\n\nNever shall I forget the comfort of the \"wash and brush-up,\" and of\nthose clean flannels. The only thing that was wanting to complete my joy\nwas a cake of soap, of which we had none.\n\nAfterwards I discovered that the Amahagger, who do not reckon dirt among\ntheir many disagreeable qualities, use a kind of burnt earth for washing\npurposes, which, though unpleasant to the touch till one gets accustomed\nto it, forms a very fair substitute for soap.\n\nBy the time that I was dressed, and had combed and trimmed my black\nbeard, the previous condition of which was certainly sufficiently\nunkempt to give weight to Billali's appellation for me of \"Baboon,\" I\nbegan to feel most uncommonly hungry. Therefore I was by no means sorry\nwhen, without the slightest preparatory sound or warning, the curtain\nover the entrance to my cave was flung aside, and another mute, a\nyoung girl this time, announced to me by signs that I could not\nmisunderstand--that is, by opening her mouth and pointing down it--that\nthere was something ready to eat. Accordingly I followed her into the\nnext chamber, which we had not yet entered, where I found Job, who had\nalso, to his great embarrassment, been conducted thither by a fair mute.\nJob never got over the advances the former lady had made towards him,\nand suspected every girl who came near to him of similar designs.\n\n\"These young parties have a way of looking at one, sir,\" he would say\napologetically, \"which I don't call respectable.\"\n\nThis chamber was twice the size of the sleeping caves, and I saw at once\nthat it had originally served as a refectory, and also probably as an\nembalming room for the Priests of the Dead; for I may as well say at\nonce that these hollowed-out caves were nothing more nor less than vast\ncatacombs, in which for tens of ages the mortal remains of the great\nextinct race whose monuments surrounded us had been first preserved,\nwith an art and a completeness that has never since been equalled,\nand then hidden away for all time. On each side of this particular\nrock-chamber was a long and solid stone table, about three feet wide by\nthree feet six in height, hewn out of the living rock, of which it had\nformed part, and was still attached to at the base. These tables were\nslightly hollowed out or curved inward, to give room for the knees of\nany one sitting on the stone ledge that had been cut for a bench along\nthe side of the cave at a distance of about two feet from them. Each of\nthem, also, was so arranged that it ended right under a shaft pierced\nin the rock for the admission of light and air. On examining them\ncarefully, however, I saw that there was a difference between them that\nhad at first escaped my attention, viz. that one of the tables, that\nto the left as we entered the cave, had evidently been used, not to\neat upon, but for the purposes of embalming. That this was beyond all\nquestion the case was clear from five shallow depressions in the stone\nof the table, all shaped like a human form, with a separate place\nfor the head to lie in, and a little bridge to support the neck, each\ndepression being of a different size, so as to fit bodies varying in\nstature from a full-grown man's to a small child's, and with little\nholes bored at intervals to carry off fluid. And, indeed, if any further\nconfirmation was required, we had but to look at the wall of the cave\nabove to find it. For there, sculptured all round the apartment, and\nlooking nearly as fresh as the day it was done, was the pictorial\nrepresentation of the death, embalming, and burial of an old man with a\nlong beard, probably an ancient king or grandee of this country.\n\nThe first picture represented his death. He was lying upon a couch which\nhad four short curved posts at the corners coming to a knob at the end,\nin appearance something like written notes of music, and was evidently\nin the very act of expiring. Gathered round the couch were women and\nchildren weeping, the former with their hair hanging down their backs.\nThe next scene represented the embalmment of the body, which lay stark\nupon a table with depressions in it, similar to the one before us;\nprobably, indeed, it was a picture of the same table. Three men were\nemployed at the work--one superintending, one holding a funnel shaped\nexactly like a port wine strainer, of which the narrow end was fixed in\nan incision in the breast, no doubt in the great pectoral artery; while\nthe third, who was depicted as standing straddle-legged over the corpse,\nheld a kind of large jug high in his hand, and poured from it some\nsteaming fluid which fell accurately into the funnel. The most curious\npart of this sculpture is that both the man with the funnel and the\nman who pours the fluid are drawn holding their noses, either I suppose\nbecause of the stench arising from the body, or more probably to keep\nout the aromatic fumes of the hot fluid which was being forced into the\ndead man's veins. Another curious thing which I am unable to explain is\nthat all three men were represented as having a band of linen tied round\nthe face with holes in it for the eyes.\n\nThe third sculpture was a picture of the burial of the deceased. There\nhe was, stiff and cold, clothed in a linen robe, and laid out on a stone\nslab such as I had slept upon at our first sojourning-place. At his\nhead and feet burnt lamps, and by his side were placed several of\nthe beautiful painted vases that I have described, which were perhaps\nsupposed to be full of provisions. The little chamber was crowded with\nmourners, and with musicians playing on an instrument resembling a lyre,\nwhile near the foot of the corpse stood a man holding a sheet, with\nwhich he was preparing to cover it from view.\n\nThese sculptures, looked at merely as works of art, were so remarkable\nthat I make no apology for describing them rather fully. They struck\nme also as being of surpassing interest as representing, probably with\nstudious accuracy, the last rites of the dead as practised among\nan utterly lost people, and even then I thought how envious some\nantiquarian friends of my own at Cambridge would be if ever I found an\nopportunity of describing these wonderful remains to them. Probably they\nwould say that I was exaggerating, notwithstanding that every page of\nthis history must bear so much internal evidence of its truth that it\nwould obviously have been quite impossible for me to have invented it.\n\nTo return. As soon as I had hastily examined these sculptures, which\nI think I omitted to mention were executed in relief, we sat down to a\nvery excellent meal of boiled goat's-flesh, fresh milk, and cakes made\nof meal, the whole being served upon clean wooden platters.\n\nWhen we had eaten we returned to see how Leo was getting on, Billali\nsaying that he must now wait upon _She_, and hear her commands. On\nreaching Leo's room we found the poor boy in a very bad way. He had woke\nup from his torpor, and was altogether off his head, babbling about some\nboat-race on the Cam, and was inclined to be violent. Indeed, when we\nentered the room Ustane was holding him down. I spoke to him, and my\nvoice seemed to soothe him; at any rate he grew much quieter, and was\npersuaded to swallow a dose of quinine.\n\nI had been sitting with him for an hour, perhaps--at any rate I know\nthat it was getting so dark that I could only just make out his head\nlying like a gleam of gold upon the pillow we had extemporised out of a\nbag covered with a blanket--when suddenly Billali arrived with an air\nof great importance, and informed me that _She_ herself had deigned to\nexpress a wish to see me--an honour, he added, accorded to but very\nfew. I think that he was a little horrified at my cool way of taking the\nhonour, but the fact was that I did not feel overwhelmed with gratitude\nat the prospect of seeing some savage, dusky queen, however absolute\nand mysterious she might be, more especially as my mind was full of\ndear Leo, for whose life I began to have great fears. However, I rose to\nfollow him, and as I did so I caught sight of something bright lying on\nthe floor, which I picked up. Perhaps the reader will remember that with\nthe potsherd in the casket was a composition scarabæus marked with a\nround O, a goose, and another curious hieroglyphic, the meaning of which\nis \"Suten se Ra,\" or \"Royal Son of the Sun.\" The scarab, which is a very\nsmall one, Leo had insisted upon having set in a massive gold ring, such\nas is generally used for signets, and it was this very ring that I now\npicked up. He had pulled it off in the paroxysm of his fever, at least\nI suppose so, and flung it down upon the rock-floor. Thinking that if I\nleft it about it might get lost, I slipped it on my own little finger,\nand then followed Billali, leaving Job and Ustane with Leo.\n\nWe passed down the passage, crossed the great aisle-like cave, and came\nto the corresponding passage on the other side, at the mouth of which\nthe guards stood like two statues. As we came they bowed their heads in\nsalutation, and then lifting their long spears placed them transversely\nacross their foreheads, as the leaders of the troop that had met us\nhad done with their ivory wands. We stepped between them, and found\nourselves in an exactly similar gallery to that which led to our own\napartments, only this passage was, comparatively speaking, brilliantly\nlighted. A few paces down it we were met by four mutes--two men and two\nwomen--who bowed low and then arranged themselves, the women in front\nand the men behind of us, and in this order we continued our procession\npast several doorways hung with curtains resembling those leading to\nour own quarters, and which I afterwards found opened out into chambers\noccupied by the mutes who attended on _She_. A few paces more and we\ncame to another doorway facing us, and not to our left like the others,\nwhich seemed to mark the termination of the passage. Here two more\nwhite-, or rather yellow-robed guards were standing, and they too\nbowed, saluted, and let us pass through heavy curtains into a great\nantechamber, quite forty feet long by as many wide, in which some eight\nor ten women, most of them young and handsome, with yellowish hair, sat\non cushions working with ivory needles at what had the appearance of\nbeing embroidery frames. These women were also deaf and dumb. At the\nfarther end of this great lamp-lit apartment was another doorway closed\nin with heavy Oriental-looking curtains, quite unlike those that hung\nbefore the doors of our own rooms, and here stood two particularly\nhandsome girl mutes, their heads bowed upon their bosoms and their hands\ncrossed in an attitude of humble submission. As we advanced they each\nstretched out an arm and drew back the curtains. Thereupon Billali did\na curious thing. Down he went, that venerable-looking old gentleman--for\nBillali is a gentleman at the bottom--down on to his hands and knees,\nand in this undignified position, with his long white beard trailing on\nthe ground, he began to creep into the apartment beyond. I followed him,\nstanding on my feet in the usual fashion. Looking over his shoulder he\nperceived it.\n\n\"Down, my son; down, my Baboon; down on to thy hands and knees. We enter\nthe presence of _She_, and, if thou art not humble, of a surety she will\nblast thee where thou standest.\"\n\nI halted, and felt scared. Indeed, my knees began to give way of their\nown mere motion; but reflection came to my aid. I was an Englishman,\nand why, I asked myself, should I creep into the presence of some savage\nwoman as though I were a monkey in fact as well as in name? I would not\nand could not do it, that is, unless I was absolutely sure that my life\nor comfort depended upon it. If once I began to creep upon my knees I\nshould always have to do so, and it would be a patent acknowledgment of\ninferiority. So, fortified by an insular prejudice against \"kootooing,\"\nwhich has, like most of our so-called prejudices, a good deal of common\nsense to recommend it, I marched in boldly after Billali. I found myself\nin another apartment, considerably smaller than the anteroom, of which\nthe walls were entirely hung with rich-looking curtains of the same make\nas those over the door, the work, as I subsequently discovered, of the\nmutes who sat in the antechamber and wove them in strips, which were\nafterwards sewn together. Also, here and there about the room, were\nsettees of a beautiful black wood of the ebony tribe, inlaid with ivory,\nand all over the floor were other tapestries, or rather rugs. At the top\nend of this apartment was what appeared to be a recess, also draped with\ncurtains, through which shone rays of light. There was nobody in the\nplace except ourselves.\n\nPainfully and slowly old Billali crept up the length of the cave, and\nwith the most dignified stride that I could command I followed after\nhim. But I felt that it was more or less of a failure. To begin with, it\nis not possible to look dignified when you are following in the wake\nof an old man writhing along on his stomach like a snake, and then,\nin order to go sufficiently slowly, either I had to keep my leg some\nseconds in the air at every step, or else to advance with a full stop\nbetween each stride, like Mary Queen of Scots going to execution in a\nplay. Billali was not good at crawling, I suppose his years stood in the\nway, and our progress up that apartment was a very long affair. I was\nimmediately behind him, and several times I was sorely tempted to help\nhim on with a good kick. It is so absurd to advance into the presence of\nsavage royalty after the fashion of an Irishman driving a pig to market,\nfor that is what we looked like, and the idea nearly made me burst out\nlaughing then and there. I had to work off my dangerous tendency to\nunseemly merriment by blowing my nose, a proceeding which filled old\nBillali with horror, for he looked over his shoulder and made a ghastly\nface at me, and I heard him murmur, \"Oh, my poor Baboon!\"\n\nAt last we reached the curtains, and here Billali collapsed flat on to\nhis stomach, with his hands stretched out before him as though he were\ndead, and I, not knowing what to do, began to stare about the place. But\npresently I clearly felt that somebody was looking at me from behind the\ncurtains. I could not see the person, but I could distinctly feel his\nor her gaze, and, what is more, it produced a very odd effect upon my\nnerves. I was frightened, I do not know why. The place was a strange\none, it is true, and looked lonely, notwithstanding its rich hangings\nand the soft glow of the lamps--indeed, these accessories added to,\nrather than detracted from its loneliness, just as a lighted street at\nnight has always a more solitary appearance than a dark one. It was\nso silent in the place, and there lay Billali like one dead before the\nheavy curtains, through which the odour of perfume seemed to float up\ntowards the gloom of the arched roof above. Minute grew into minute, and\nstill there was no sign of life, nor did the curtain move; but I felt\nthe gaze of the unknown being sinking through and through me, and\nfilling me with a nameless terror, till the perspiration stood in beads\nupon my brow.\n\nAt length the curtain began to move. Who could be behind it?--some naked\nsavage queen, a languishing Oriental beauty, or a nineteenth-century\nyoung lady, drinking afternoon tea? I had not the slightest idea,\nand should not have been astonished at seeing any of the three. I was\ngetting beyond astonishment. The curtain agitated itself a little, then\nsuddenly between its folds there appeared a most beautiful white hand\n(white as snow), and with long tapering fingers, ending in the pinkest\nnails. The hand grasped the curtain, and drew it aside, and as it did so\nI heard a voice, I think the softest and yet most silvery voice I ever\nheard. It reminded me of the murmur of a brook.\n\n\"Stranger,\" said the voice in Arabic, but much purer and more classical\nArabic than the Amahagger talk--\"stranger, wherefore art thou so much\nafraid?\"\n\nNow I flattered myself that in spite of my inward terrors I had kept\na very fair command of my countenance, and was, therefore, a little\nastonished at this question. Before I had made up my mind how to answer\nit, however, the curtain was drawn, and a tall figure stood before us. I\nsay a figure, for not only the body, but also the face was wrapped up in\nsoft white, gauzy material in such a way as at first sight to remind me\nmost forcibly of a corpse in its grave-clothes. And yet I do not know\nwhy it should have given me that idea, seeing that the wrappings were so\nthin that one could distinctly see the gleam of the pink flesh beneath\nthem. I suppose it was owing to the way in which they were arranged,\neither accidentally, or more probably by design. Anyhow, I felt more\nfrightened than ever at this ghost-like apparition, and my hair began\nto rise upon my head as the feeling crept over me that I was in the\npresence of something that was not canny. I could, however, clearly\ndistinguish that the swathed mummy-like form before me was that of a\ntall and lovely woman, instinct with beauty in every part, and also\nwith a certain snake-like grace which I had never seen anything to\nequal before. When she moved a hand or foot her entire frame seemed to\nundulate, and the neck did not bend, it curved.\n\n\"Why art thou so frightened, stranger?\" asked the sweet voice again--a\nvoice which seemed to draw the heart out of me, like the strains of\nsoftest music. \"Is there that about me that should affright a man? Then\nsurely are men changed from what they used to be!\" And with a little\ncoquettish movement she turned herself, and held up one arm, so as\nto show all her loveliness and the rich hair of raven blackness that\nstreamed in soft ripples down her snowy robes, almost to her sandalled\nfeet.\n\n\"It is thy beauty that makes me fear, oh Queen,\" I answered humbly,\nscarcely knowing what to say, and I thought that as I did so I heard old\nBillali, who was still lying prostrate on the floor, mutter, \"Good, my\nBaboon, good.\"\n\n\"I see that men still know how to beguile us women with false words. Ah,\nstranger,\" she answered, with a laugh that sounded like distant silver\nbells, \"thou wast afraid because mine eyes were searching out thine\nheart, therefore wast thou afraid. Yet being but a woman, I forgive thee\nfor the lie, for it was courteously said. And now tell me how came ye\nhither to this land of the dwellers among the caves--a land of swamps\nand evil things and dead old shadows of the dead? What came ye for to\nsee? How is it that ye hold your lives so cheap as to place\nthem in the hollow of the hand of _Hiya_, into the hand of\n'_She-who-must-be-obeyed_'? Tell me also how come ye to know the tongue\nI talk. It is an ancient tongue, that sweet child of the old Syriac.\nLiveth it yet in the world? Thou seest I dwell among the caves and the\ndead, and naught know I of the affairs of men, nor have I cared to know.\nI have lived, O stranger, with my memories, and my memories are in a\ngrave that mine hands hollowed, for truly hath it been said that\nthe child of man maketh his own path evil;\" and her beautiful voice\nquivered, and broke in a note as soft as any wood-bird's. Suddenly\nher eye fell upon the sprawling frame of Billali, and she seemed to\nrecollect herself.\n\n\"Ah! thou art there, old man. Tell me how it is that things have gone\nwrong in thine household. Forsooth, it seems that these my guests were\nset upon. Ay, and one was nigh to being slain by the hot-pot to be eaten\nof those brutes, thy children, and had not the others fought gallantly\nthey too had been slain, and not even I could have called back the life\nwhich had been loosed from the body. What means it, old man? What hast\nthou to say that I should not give thee over to those who execute my\nvengeance?\"\n\nHer voice had risen in her anger, and it rang clear and cold against the\nrocky walls. Also I thought I could see her eyes flash through the gauze\nthat hid them. I saw poor Billali, whom I had believed to be a very\nfearless person, positively quiver with terror at her words.\n\n\"Oh 'Hiya!' oh _She_!\" he said, without lifting his white head from the\nfloor. \"Oh _She_, as thou art great be merciful, for I am now as ever\nthy servant to obey. It was no plan or fault of mine, oh _She_, it was\nthose wicked ones who are called my children. Led on by a woman whom thy\nguest the Pig had scorned, they would have followed the ancient custom\nof the land, and eaten the fat black stranger who came hither with these\nthy guests the Baboon and the Lion who is sick, thinking that no word\nhad come from thee about the Black one. But when the Baboon and the Lion\nsaw what they would do, they slew the woman, and slew also their servant\nto save him from the horror of the pot. Then those evil ones, ay, those\nchildren of the Wicked One who lives in the Pit, they went mad with the\nlust of blood, and flew at the throats of the Lion and the Baboon and\nthe Pig. But gallantly they fought. Oh _Hiya_! they fought like very\nmen, and slew many, and held their own, and then I came and saved them,\nand the evildoers have I sent on hither to Kôr to be judged of thy\ngreatness, oh _She_! and here they are.\"\n\n\"Ay, old man, I know it, and to-morrow will I sit in the great hall and\ndo justice upon them, fear not. And for thee, I forgive thee, though\nhardly. See that thou dost keep thine household better. Go.\"\n\nBillali rose upon his knees with astonishing alacrity, bowed his head\nthrice, and his white beard sweeping the ground, crawled down the\napartment as he had crawled up it, till he finally vanished through the\ncurtains, leaving me, not a little to my alarm, alone with this terrible\nbut most fascinating person.\n\n\n\nXIII\n\nAYESHA UNVEILS\n\n\"There,\" said _She_, \"he has gone, the white-bearded old fool! Ah, how\nlittle knowledge does a man acquire in his life. He gathereth it up like\nwater, but like water it runneth through his fingers, and yet, if his\nhands be but wet as though with dew, behold a generation of fools call\nout, 'See, he is a wise man!' Is it not so? But how call they thee?\n'Baboon,' he says,\" and she laughed; \"but that is the fashion of these\nsavages who lack imagination, and fly to the beasts they resemble for a\nname. How do they call thee in thine own country, stranger?\"\n\n\"They call me Holly, oh Queen,\" I answered.\n\n\"Holly,\" she answered, speaking the word with difficulty, and yet with a\nmost charming accent; \"and what is 'Holly'?\"\n\n\"'Holly' is a prickly tree,\" I said.\n\n\"So. Well, thou hast a prickly and yet a tree-like look. Strong art\nthou, and ugly, but if my wisdom be not at fault, honest at the core,\nand a staff to lean on. Also one who thinks. But stay, oh Holly, stand\nnot there, enter with me and be seated by me. I would not see thee crawl\nbefore me like those slaves. I am aweary of their worship and their\nterror; sometimes when they vex me I could blast them for very sport,\nand to see the rest turn white, even to the heart.\" And she held the\ncurtain aside with her ivory hand to let me pass in.\n\nI entered, shuddering. This woman was very terrible. Within the curtains\nwas a recess, about twelve feet by ten, and in the recess was a couch\nand a table whereon stood fruit and sparkling water. By it, at its end,\nwas a vessel like a font cut in carved stone, also full of pure water.\nThe place was softly lit with lamps formed out of the beautiful vessels\nof which I have spoken, and the air and curtains were laden with a\nsubtle perfume. Perfume too seemed to emanate from the glorious hair and\nwhite-clinging vestments of _She_ herself. I entered the little room,\nand there stood uncertain.\n\n\"Sit,\" said _She_, pointing to the couch. \"As yet thou hast no cause to\nfear me. If thou hast cause, thou shalt not fear for long, for I shall\nslay thee. Therefore let thy heart be light.\"\n\nI sat down on the foot of the couch near to the font-like basin of\nwater, and _She_ sank down softly on to the other end.\n\n\"Now, Holly,\" she said, \"how comest thou to speak Arabic? It is my own\ndear tongue, for Arabian am I by my birth, even 'al Arab al Ariba' (an\nArab of the Arabs), and of the race of our father Yárab, the son of\nKâhtan, for in that fair and ancient city Ozal was I born, in the\nprovince of Yaman the Happy. Yet dost thou not speak it as we used to\nspeak. Thy talk doth lack the music of the sweet tongue of the tribes of\nHamyar which I was wont to hear. Some of the words too seemed changed,\neven as among these Amahagger, who have debased and defiled its purity,\nso that I must speak with them in what is to me another tongue.\"[*]\n\n     [*] Yárab the son of Kâhtan, who lived some centuries\n     before the time of Abraham, was the father of the ancient\n     Arabs, and gave its name Araba to the country. In speaking\n     of herself as \"al Arab al Ariba,\" _She_ no doubt meant to\n     convey that she was of the true Arab blood as distinguished\n     from the naturalised Arabs, the descendants of Ismael, the\n     son of Abraham and Hagar, who were known as \"al Arab al\n     mostáraba.\" The dialect of the Koreish was usually called\n     the clear or \"perspicuous\" Arabic, but the Hamaritic dialect\n     approached nearer to the purity of the mother Syriac.--L. H.\n     H.\n\n\"I have studied it,\" I answered, \"for many years. Also the language is\nspoken in Egypt and elsewhere.\"\n\n\"So it is still spoken, and there is yet an Egypt? And what Pharaoh sits\nupon the throne? Still one of the spawn of the Persian Ochús, or are\nthe Achæmenians gone, for far is it to the days of Ochús.\"\n\n\"The Persians have been gone for Egypt for nigh two thousand years, and\nsince then the Ptolemies, the Romans, and many others have flourished\nand held sway upon the Nile, and fallen when their time was ripe,\" I\nsaid, aghast. \"What canst thou know of the Persian Artaxerxes?\"\n\nShe laughed, and made no answer, and again a cold chill went through\nme. \"And Greece,\" she said; \"is there still a Greece? Ah, I loved the\nGreeks. Beautiful were they as the day, and clever, but fierce at heart\nand fickle, notwithstanding.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, \"there is a Greece; and, just now, it is once more a\npeople. Yet the Greeks of to-day are not what the Greeks of the old time\nwere, and Greece herself is but a mockery of the Greece that was.\"\n\n\"So! The Hebrews, are they yet at Jerusalem? And does the Temple that\nthe wise king built stand, and if so what God do they worship therein?\nIs their Messiah come, of whom they preached so much and prophesied so\nloudly, and doth He rule the earth?\"\n\n\"The Jews are broken and gone, and the fragments of their people strew\nthe world, and Jerusalem is no more. As for the temple that Herod\nbuilt----\"\n\n\"Herod!\" she said. \"I know not Herod. But go on.\"\n\n\"The Romans burnt it, and the Roman eagles flew across its ruins, and\nnow Judæa is a desert.\"\n\n\"So, so! They were a great people, those Romans, and went straight to\ntheir end--ay, they sped to it like Fate, or like their own eagles on\ntheir prey!--and left peace behind them.\"\n\n\"Solitudinem faciunt, pacem appellant,\" I suggested.\n\n\"Ah, thou canst speak the Latin tongue, too!\" she said, in surprise. \"It\nhath a strange ring in my ears after all these days, and it seems to\nme that thy accent does not fall as the Romans put it. Who was it wrote\nthat? I know not the saying, but it is a true one of that great people.\nIt seems that I have found a learned man--one whose hands have held the\nwater of the world's knowledge. Knowest thou Greek also?\"\n\n\"Yes, oh Queen, and something of Hebrew, but not to speak them well.\nThey are all dead languages now.\"\n\nShe clapped her hands in childish glee. \"Of a truth, ugly tree that thou\nart, thou growest the fruits of wisdom, oh Holly,\" she said; \"but of\nthose Jews whom I hated, for they called me 'heathen' when I would have\ntaught them my philosophy--did their Messiah come, and doth He rule the\nworld?\"\n\n\"Their Messiah came,\" I answered with reverence; \"but He came poor and\nlowly, and they would have none of Him. They scourged Him, and crucified\nHim upon a tree, but yet His words and His works live on, for He was the\nSon of God, and now of a truth He doth rule half the world, but not with\nan Empire of the World.\"\n\n\"Ah, the fierce-hearted wolves,\" she said, \"the followers of Sense and\nmany gods--greedy of gain and faction-torn. I can see their dark faces\nyet. So they crucified their Messiah? Well can I believe it. That He was\na Son of the Living Spirit would be naught to them, if indeed He was so,\nand of that we will talk afterwards. They would care naught for any God\nif He came not with pomp and power. They, a chosen people, a vessel\nof Him they call Jehovah, ay, and a vessel of Baal, and a vessel of\nAstoreth, and a vessel of the gods of the Egyptians--a high-stomached\npeople, greedy of aught that brought them wealth and power. So they\ncrucified their Messiah because He came in lowly guise--and now are\nthey scattered about the earth? Why, if I remember, so said one of their\nprophets that it should be. Well, let them go--they broke my heart,\nthose Jews, and made me look with evil eyes across the world, ay, and\ndrove me to this wilderness, this place of a people that was before\nthem. When I would have taught them wisdom in Jerusalem they stoned me,\nay, at the Gate of the Temple those white-bearded hypocrites and Rabbis\nhounded the people on to stone me! See, here is the mark of it to this\nday!\" and with a sudden move she pulled up the gauzy wrapping on her\nrounded arm, and pointed to a little scar that showed red against its\nmilky beauty.\n\nI shrank back, horrified.\n\n\"Pardon me, oh Queen,\" I said, \"but I am bewildered. Nigh upon two\nthousand years have rolled across the earth since the Jewish Messiah\nhung upon His cross at Golgotha. How then canst thou have taught thy\nphilosophy to the Jews before He was? Thou art a woman and no spirit.\nHow can a woman live two thousand years? Why dost thou befool me, oh\nQueen?\"\n\nShe leaned back upon the couch, and once more I felt the hidden eyes\nplaying upon me and searching out my heart.\n\n\"Oh man!\" she said at last, speaking very slowly and deliberately, \"it\nseems that there are still things upon the earth of which thou knowest\nnaught. Dost thou still believe that all things die, even as those very\nJews believed? I tell thee that naught dies. There is no such thing as\nDeath, though there be a thing called Change. See,\" and she pointed to\nsome sculptures on the rocky wall. \"Three times two thousand years have\npassed since the last of the great race that hewed those pictures fell\nbefore the breath of the pestilence which destroyed them, yet are they\nnot dead. E'en now they live; perchance their spirits are drawn towards\nus at this very hour,\" and she glanced round. \"Of a surety it sometimes\nseems to me that my eyes can see them.\"\n\n\"Yes, but to the world they are dead.\"\n\n\"Ay, for a time; but even to the world are they born again and again. I,\nyes I, Ayesha[*]--for that, stranger, is my name--I say to thee that\nI wait now for one I loved to be born again, and here I tarry till he\nfinds me, knowing of a surety that hither he will come, and that here,\nand here only, shall he greet me. Why, dost thou believe that I, who\nam all-powerful, I, whose loveliness is more than the loveliness of the\nGrecian Helen, of whom they used to sing, and whose wisdom is wider, ay,\nfar more wide and deep than the wisdom of Solomon the Wise--I, who know\nthe secrets of the earth and its riches, and can turn all things to\nmy uses--I, who have even for a while overcome Change, that ye call\nDeath--why, I say, oh stranger, dost thou think that I herd here with\nbarbarians lower than the beasts?\"\n\n[*] Pronounced Assha.--L. H. H.\n\n\"I know not,\" I said humbly.\n\n\"Because I wait for him I love. My life has perchance been evil, I know\nnot--for who can say what is evil and what good?--so I fear to die even\nif I could die, which I cannot until mine hour comes, to go and seek him\nwhere he is; for between us there might rise a wall I could not climb,\nat least, I dread it. Surely easy would it be also to lose the way in\nseeking in those great spaces wherein the planets wander on for ever.\nBut the day will come, it may be when five thousand more years have\npassed, and are lost and melted into the vault of Time, even as the\nlittle clouds melt into the gloom of night, or it may be to-morrow,\nwhen he, my love, shall be born again, and then, following a law that\nis stronger than any human plan, he shall find me _here_, where once\nhe knew me, and of a surety his heart will soften towards me, though I\nsinned against him; ay, even though he knew me not again, yet will he\nlove me, if only for my beauty's sake.\"\n\nFor a moment I was dumbfounded, and could not answer. The matter was too\noverpowering for my intellect to grasp.\n\n\"But even so, oh Queen,\" I said at last, \"even if we men be born again\nand again, that is not so with thee, if thou speakest truly.\" Here she\nlooked up sharply, and once more I caught the flash of those hidden\neyes; \"thou,\" I went on hurriedly, \"who hast never died?\"\n\n\"That is so,\" she said; \"and it is so because I have, half by chance and\nhalf by learning, solved one of the great secrets of the world. Tell\nme, stranger: life is--why therefore should not life be lengthened for a\nwhile? What are ten or twenty or fifty thousand years in the history of\nlife? Why in ten thousand years scarce will the rain and storms lessen\na mountain top by a span in thickness? In two thousand years these caves\nhave not changed, nothing has changed but the beasts, and man, who is as\nthe beasts. There is naught that is wonderful about the matter, couldst\nthou but understand. Life is wonderful, ay, but that it should be a\nlittle lengthened is not wonderful. Nature hath her animating spirit as\nwell as man, who is Nature's child, and he who can find that spirit,\nand let it breathe upon him, shall live with her life. He shall not live\neternally, for Nature is not eternal, and she herself must die, even as\nthe nature of the moon hath died. She herself must die, I say, or rather\nchange and sleep till it be time for her to live again. But when shall\nshe die? Not yet, I ween, and while she lives, so shall he who hath\nall her secret live with her. All I have it not, yet have I some, more\nperchance than any who were before me. Now, to thee I doubt not that\nthis thing is a great mystery, therefore I will not overcome thee with\nit now. Another time I will tell thee more if the mood be on me, though\nperchance I shall never speak thereof again. Dost thou wonder how I\nknew that ye were coming to this land, and so saved your heads from the\nhot-pot?\"\n\n\"Ay, oh Queen,\" I answered feebly.\n\n\"Then gaze upon that water,\" and she pointed to the font-like vessel,\nand then, bending forward, held her hand over it.\n\nI rose and gazed, and instantly the water darkened. Then it cleared, and\nI saw as distinctly as I ever saw anything in my life--I saw, I say, our\nboat upon that horrible canal. There was Leo lying at the bottom asleep\nin it, with a coat thrown over him to keep off the mosquitoes, in such a\nfashion as to hide his face, and myself, Job, and Mahomed towing on the\nbank.\n\nI started back, aghast, and cried out that it was magic, for I\nrecognised the whole scene--it was one which had actually occurred.\n\n\"Nay, nay; oh Holly,\" she answered, \"it is no magic, that is a fiction\nof ignorance. There is no such thing as magic, though there is such a\nthing as a knowledge of the secrets of Nature. That water is my glass;\nin it I see what passes if I will to summon up the pictures, which is\nnot often. Therein I can show thee what thou wilt of the past, if it be\nanything that hath to do with this country and with what I have known,\nor anything that thou, the gazer, hast known. Think of a face if thou\nwilt, and it shall be reflected from thy mind upon the water. I know not\nall the secret yet--I can read nothing in the future. But it is an old\nsecret; I did not find it. In Arabia and in Egypt the sorcerers knew\nit centuries gone. So one day I chanced to bethink me of that old\ncanal--some twenty ages since I sailed upon it, and I was minded to\nlook thereon again. So I looked, and there I saw the boat and three men\nwalking, and one, whose face I could not see, but a youth of noble form,\nsleeping in the boat, and so I sent and saved ye. And now farewell. But\nstay, tell me of this youth--the Lion, as the old man calls him. I would\nlook upon him, but he is sick, thou sayest--sick with the fever, and\nalso wounded in the fray.\"\n\n\"He is very sick,\" I answered sadly; \"canst thou do nothing for him, oh\nQueen! who knowest so much?\"\n\n\"Of a surety I can. I can cure him; but why speakest thou so sadly? Dost\nthou love the youth? Is he perchance thy son?\"\n\n\"He is my adopted son, oh Queen! Shall he be brought in before thee?\"\n\n\"Nay. How long hath the fever taken him?\"\n\n\"This is the third day.\"\n\n\"Good; then let him lie another day. Then will he perchance throw it off\nby his own strength, and that is better than that I should cure him,\nfor my medicine is of a sort to shake the life in its very citadel. If,\nhowever, by to-morrow night, at that hour when the fever first took him,\nhe doth not begin to mend, then will I come to him and cure him. Stay,\nwho nurses him?\"\n\n\"Our white servant, him whom Billali names the Pig; also,\" and here\nI spoke with some little hesitation, \"a woman named Ustane, a very\nhandsome woman of this country, who came and embraced him when she\nfirst saw him, and hath stayed by him ever since, as I understand is the\nfashion of thy people, oh Queen.\"\n\n\"My people! speak not to me of my people,\" she answered hastily; \"these\nslaves are no people of mine, they are but dogs to do my bidding till\nthe day of my deliverance comes; and, as for their customs, naught have\nI to do with them. Also, call me not Queen--I am weary of flattery and\ntitles--call me Ayesha, the name hath a sweet sound in mine ears, it is\nan echo from the past. As for this Ustane, I know not. I wonder if it\nbe she against whom I was warned, and whom I in turn did warn? Hath\nshe--stay, I will see;\" and, bending forward, she passed her hand over\nthe font of water and gazed intently into it. \"See,\" she said quietly,\n\"is that the woman?\"\n\nI looked into the water, and there, mirrored upon its placid surface,\nwas the silhouette of Ustane's stately face. She was bending forward,\nwith a look of infinite tenderness upon her features, watching something\nbeneath her, and with her chestnut locks falling on to her right\nshoulder.\n\n\"It is she,\" I said, in a low voice, for once more I felt much disturbed\nat this most uncommon sight. \"She watches Leo asleep.\"\n\n\"Leo!\" said Ayesha, in an absent voice; \"why, that is 'lion' in the\nLatin tongue. The old man hath named happily for once. It is very\nstrange,\" she went on, speaking to herself, \"very. So like--but it is\nnot possible!\" With an impatient gesture she passed her hand over\nthe water once more. It darkened, and the image vanished silently and\nmysteriously as it had risen, and once more the lamplight, and the\nlamplight only, shone on the placid surface of that limpid, living\nmirror.\n\n\"Hast thou aught to ask me before thou goest, oh Holly?\" she said, after\na few moments' reflection. \"It is but a rude life that thou must live\nhere, for these people are savages, and know not the ways of cultivated\nman. Not that I am troubled thereby, for behold my food,\" and she\npointed to the fruit upon the little table. \"Naught but fruit doth\never pass my lips--fruit and cakes of flour, and a little water. I have\nbidden my girls to wait upon thee. They are mutes, thou knowest, deaf\nare they and dumb, and therefore the safest of servants, save to those\nwho can read their faces and their signs. I bred them so--it hath taken\nmany centuries and much trouble; but at last I have triumphed. Once I\nsucceeded before, but the race was too ugly, so I let it die away; but\nnow, as thou seest, they are otherwise. Once, too, I reared a race of\ngiants, but after a while Nature would no more of it, and it died away.\nHast thou aught to ask of me?\"\n\n\"Ay, one thing, oh Ayesha,\" I said boldly; but feeling by no means as\nbold as I trust I looked. \"I would gaze upon thy face.\"\n\nShe laughed out in her bell-like notes. \"Bethink thee, Holly,\" she\nanswered; \"bethink thee. It seems that thou knowest the old myths of the\ngods of Greece. Was there not one Actæon who perished miserably because\nhe looked on too much beauty? If I show thee my face, perchance thou\nwouldst perish miserably also; perchance thou wouldst eat out thy heart\nin impotent desire; for know I am not for thee--I am for no man, save\none, who hath been, but is not yet.\"\n\n\"As thou wilt, Ayesha,\" I said. \"I fear not thy beauty. I have put my\nheart away from such vanity as woman's loveliness, that passeth like a\nflower.\"\n\n\"Nay, thou errest,\" she said; \"that does _not_ pass. My beauty endures\neven as I endure; still, if thou wilt, oh rash man, have thy will; but\nblame not me if passion mount thy reason, as the Egyptian breakers used\nto mount a colt, and guide it whither thou wilt not. Never may the man\nto whom my beauty has been unveiled put it from his mind, and therefore\neven with these savages do I go veiled, lest they vex me, and I should\nslay them. Say, wilt thou see?\"\n\n\"I will,\" I answered, my curiosity overpowering me.\n\nShe lifted her white and rounded arms--never had I seen such arms\nbefore--and slowly, very slowly, withdrew some fastening beneath her\nhair. Then all of a sudden the long, corpse-like wrappings fell from her\nto the ground, and my eyes travelled up her form, now only robed in\na garb of clinging white that did but serve to show its perfect and\nimperial shape, instinct with a life that was more than life, and with a\ncertain serpent-like grace that was more than human. On her little feet\nwere sandals, fastened with studs of gold. Then came ankles more perfect\nthan ever sculptor dreamed of. About the waist her white kirtle was\nfastened by a double-headed snake of solid gold, above which her\ngracious form swelled up in lines as pure as they were lovely, till the\nkirtle ended on the snowy argent of her breast, whereon her arms were\nfolded. I gazed above them at her face, and--I do not exaggerate--shrank\nback blinded and amazed. I have heard of the beauty of celestial beings,\nnow I saw it; only this beauty, with all its awful loveliness and\npurity, was _evil_--at least, at the time, it struck me as evil. How am\nI to describe it? I cannot--simply I cannot! The man does not live\nwhose pen could convey a sense of what I saw. I might talk of the great\nchanging eyes of deepest, softest black, of the tinted face, of the\nbroad and noble brow, on which the hair grew low, and delicate, straight\nfeatures. But, beautiful, surpassingly beautiful as they all were, her\nloveliness did not lie in them. It lay rather, if it can be said to have\nhad any fixed abiding place, in a visible majesty, in an imperial grace,\nin a godlike stamp of softened power, which shone upon that radiant\ncountenance like a living halo. Never before had I guessed what beauty\nmade sublime could be--and yet, the sublimity was a dark one--the glory\nwas not all of heaven--though none the less was it glorious. Though\nthe face before me was that of a young woman of certainly not more than\nthirty years, in perfect health, and the first flush of ripened beauty,\nyet it had stamped upon it a look of unutterable experience, and of\ndeep acquaintance with grief and passion. Not even the lovely smile that\ncrept about the dimples of her mouth could hide this shadow of sin and\nsorrow. It shone even in the light of the glorious eyes, it was present\nin the air of majesty, and it seemed to say: \"Behold me, lovely as no\nwoman was or is, undying and half-divine; memory haunts me from age to\nage, and passion leads me by the hand--evil have I done, and from age to\nage evil I shall do, and sorrow shall I know till my redemption comes.\"\n\nDrawn by some magnetic force which I could not resist, I let my eyes\nrest upon her shining orbs, and felt a current pass from them to me that\nbewildered and half-blinded me.\n\nShe laughed--ah, how musically! and nodded her little head at me with\nan air of sublimated coquetry that would have done credit to a Venus\nVictrix.\n\n\"Rash man!\" she said; \"like Actæon, thou hast had thy will; be careful\nlest, like Actæon, thou too dost perish miserably, torn to pieces\nby the ban-hounds of thine own passions. I too, oh Holly, am a virgin\ngoddess, not to be moved of any man, save one, and it is not thou. Say,\nhast thou seen enough!\"\n\n\"I have looked on beauty, and I am blinded,\" I said hoarsely, lifting my\nhand to cover up my eyes.\n\n\"So! what did I tell thee? Beauty is like the lightning; it is lovely,\nbut it destroys--especially trees, oh Holly!\" and again she nodded and\nlaughed.\n\nSuddenly she paused, and through my fingers I saw an awful change come\nover her countenance. Her great eyes suddenly fixed themselves into an\nexpression in which horror seemed to struggle with some tremendous hope\narising through the depths of her dark soul. The lovely face grew rigid,\nand the gracious willowy form seemed to erect itself.\n\n\"Man,\" she half whispered, half hissed, throwing back her head like a\nsnake about to strike--\"Man, whence hadst thou that scarab on thy hand?\nSpeak, or by the Spirit of Life I will blast thee where thou standest!\"\nand she took one light step towards me, and from her eyes there shone\nsuch an awful light--to me it seemed almost like a flame--that I fell,\nthen and there, on the ground before her, babbling confusedly in my\nterror.\n\n\"Peace,\" she said, with a sudden change of manner, and speaking in her\nformer soft voice. \"I did affright thee! Forgive me! But at times, oh\nHolly, the almost infinite mind grows impatient of the slowness of the\nvery finite, and am I tempted to use my power out of vexation--very\nnearly wast thou dead, but I remembered----. But the scarab--about the\nscarabæus!\"\n\n\"I picked it up,\" I gurgled feebly, as I got on to my feet again, and\nit is a solemn fact that my mind was so disturbed that at the moment I\ncould remember nothing else about the ring except that I had picked it\nup in Leo's cave.\n\n\"It is very strange,\" she said with a sudden access of womanlike\ntrembling and agitation which seemed out of place in this awful\nwoman--\"but once I knew a scarab like to that. It--hung round the\nneck--of one I loved,\" and she gave a little sob, and I saw that after\nall she was only a woman, although she might be a very old one.\n\n\"There,\" she went on, \"it must be one like to it, and yet never did\nI see one like to it, for thereto hung a history, and he who wore it\nprized it much.[*] But the scarab that I knew was not set thus in the\nbezel of a ring. Go now, Holly, go, and, if thou canst, try to forget\nthat thou hast of thy folly looked upon Ayesha's beauty,\" and, turning\nfrom me, she flung herself on her couch, and buried her face in the\ncushions.\n\n     [*] I am informed by a renowned and learned Egyptologist, to\n     whom I have submitted this very interesting and beautifully\n     finished scarab, \"Suten se Ra,\" that he has never seen one\n     resembling it. Although it bears a title frequently given to\n     Egyptian royalty, he is of opinion that it is not\n     necessarily the cartouche of a Pharaoh, on which either the\n     throne or personal name of the monarch is generally\n     inscribed. What the history of this particular scarab may\n     have been we can now, unfortunately, never know, but I have\n     little doubt but that it played some part in the tragic\n     story of the Princess Amenartas and her lover Kallikrates,\n     the forsworn priest of Isis.--Editor.\n\nAs for me, I stumbled from her presence, and I do not remember how I\nreached my own cave.\n\n\n\nXIV\n\nA SOUL IN HELL\n\nIt was nearly ten o'clock at night when I cast myself down upon my bed,\nand began to gather my scattered wits, and reflect upon what I had seen\nand heard. But the more I reflected the less I could make of it. Was I\nmad, or drunk, or dreaming, or was I merely the victim of a gigantic\nand most elaborate hoax? How was it possible that I, a rational man,\nnot unacquainted with the leading scientific facts of our history, and\nhitherto an absolute and utter disbeliever in all the hocus-pocus which\nin Europe goes by the name of the supernatural, could believe that I had\nwithin the last few minutes been engaged in conversation with a woman\ntwo thousand and odd years old? The thing was contrary to the experience\nof human nature, and absolutely and utterly impossible. It must be a\nhoax, and yet, if it were a hoax, what was I to make of it? What, too,\nwas to be said of the figures on the water, of the woman's extraordinary\nacquaintance with the remote past, and her ignorance, or apparent\nignorance, of any subsequent history? What, too, of her wonderful and\nawful loveliness? This, at any rate, was a patent fact, and beyond the\nexperience of the world. No merely mortal woman could shine with such\na supernatural radiance. About that she had, at any rate, been in the\nright--it was not safe for any man to look upon such beauty. I was\na hardened vessel in such matters, having, with the exception of one\npainful experience of my green and tender youth, put the softer sex\n(I sometimes think that this is a misnomer) almost entirely out of my\nthoughts. But now, to my intense horror, I _knew_ that I could never put\naway the vision of those glorious eyes; and alas! the very _diablerie_\nof the woman, whilst it horrified and repelled, attracted in even a\ngreater degree. A person with the experience of two thousand years at\nher back, with the command of such tremendous powers, and the knowledge\nof a mystery that could hold off death, was certainly worth falling\nin love with, if ever woman was. But, alas! it was not a question of\nwhether or no she was worth it, for so far as I could judge, not being\nversed in such matters, I, a fellow of my college, noted for what my\nacquaintances are pleased to call my misogyny, and a respectable man\nnow well on in middle life, had fallen absolutely and hopelessly in love\nwith this white sorceress. Nonsense; it must be nonsense! She had warned\nme fairly, and I had refused to take the warning. Curses on the fatal\ncuriosity that is ever prompting man to draw the veil from woman,\nand curses on the natural impulse that begets it! It is the cause of\nhalf--ay, and more than half--of our misfortunes. Why cannot man be\ncontent to live alone and be happy, and let the women live alone and be\nhappy too? But perhaps they would not be happy, and I am not sure that\nwe should either. Here is a nice state of affairs. I, at my age, to fall\na victim to this modern Circe! But then she was not modern, at least she\nsaid not. She was almost as ancient as the original Circe.\n\nI tore my hair, and jumped up from my couch, feeling that if I did\nnot do something I should go off my head. What did she mean about the\nscarabæus too? It was Leo's scarabæus, and had come out of the old\ncoffer that Vincey had left in my rooms nearly one-and-twenty years\nbefore. Could it be, after all, that the whole story was true, and\nthe writing on the sherd was _not_ a forgery, or the invention of some\ncrack-brained, long-forgotten individual? And if so, could it be that\n_Leo_ was the man that _She_ was waiting for--the dead man who was to be\nborn again! Impossible! The whole thing was gibberish! Who ever heard of\na man being born again?\n\nBut if it were possible that a woman could exist for two thousand years,\nthis might be possible also--anything might be possible. I myself might,\nfor aught I knew, be a reincarnation of some other forgotten self, or\nperhaps the last of a long line of ancestral selves. Well, _vive la\nguerre!_ why not? Only, unfortunately, I had no recollection of these\nprevious conditions. The idea was so absurd to me that I burst out\nlaughing, and, addressing the sculptured picture of a grim-looking\nwarrior on the cave wall, called out to him aloud, \"Who knows, old\nfellow?--perhaps I was your contemporary. By Jove! perhaps I was you and\nyou are I,\" and then I laughed again at my own folly, and the sound of\nmy laughter rang dismally along the vaulted roof, as though the ghost of\nthe warrior had echoed the ghost of a laugh.\n\nNext I bethought me that I had not been to see how Leo was, so, taking\nup one of the lamps which was burning at my bedside, I slipped off my\nshoes and crept down the passage to the entrance of his sleeping cave.\nThe draught of the night air was lifting his curtain to and fro gently,\nas though spirit hands were drawing and redrawing it. I slid into the\nvault-like apartment, and looked round. There was a light by which I\ncould see that Leo was lying on the couch, tossing restlessly in his\nfever, but asleep. At his side, half-lying on the floor, half-leaning\nagainst the stone couch, was Ustane. She held his hand in one of hers,\nbut she too was dozing, and the two made a pretty, or rather a pathetic,\npicture. Poor Leo! his cheek was burning red, there were dark shadows\nbeneath his eyes, and his breath came heavily. He was very, very ill;\nand again the horrible fear seized me that he might die, and I be left\nalone in the world. And yet if he lived he would perhaps be my rival\nwith Ayesha; even if he were not the man, what chance should I,\nmiddle-aged and hideous, have against his bright youth and beauty? Well,\nthank Heaven! my sense of right was not dead. _She_ had not killed that\nyet; and, as I stood there, I prayed to Heaven in my heart that my boy,\nmy more than son, might live--ay, even if he proved to be the man.\n\nThen I went back as softly as I had come, but still I could not sleep;\nthe sight and thought of dear Leo lying there so ill had but added fuel\nto the fire of my unrest. My wearied body and overstrained mind awakened\nall my imagination into preternatural activity. Ideas, visions, almost\ninspirations, floated before it with startling vividness. Most of them\nwere grotesque enough, some were ghastly, some recalled thoughts and\nsensations that had for years been buried in the _débris_ of my past\nlife. But, behind and above them all, hovered the shape of that awful\nwoman, and through them gleamed the memory of her entrancing loveliness.\nUp and down the cave I strode--up and down.\n\nSuddenly I observed, what I had not noticed before, that there was a\nnarrow aperture in the rocky wall. I took up the lamp and examined it;\nthe aperture led to a passage. Now, I was still sufficiently sensible\nto remember that it is not pleasant, in such a situation as ours was, to\nhave passages running into one's bed-chamber from no one knows where. If\nthere are passages, people can come up them; they can come up when one\nis asleep. Partly to see where it went to, and partly from a restless\ndesire to be doing something, I followed the passage. It led to a stone\nstair, which I descended; the stair ended in another passage, or rather\ntunnel, also hewn out of the bed-rock, and running, so far as I could\njudge, exactly beneath the gallery that led to the entrance of our\nrooms, and across the great central cave. I went on down it: it was as\nsilent as the grave, but still, drawn by some sensation or attraction\nthat I cannot define, I followed on, my stockinged feet falling without\nnoise on the smooth and rocky floor. When I had traversed some fifty\nyards of space, I came to another passage running at right angles, and\nhere an awful thing happened to me: the sharp draught caught my lamp\nand extinguished it, leaving me in utter darkness in the bowels of that\nmysterious place. I took a couple of strides forward so as to clear the\nbisecting tunnel, being terribly afraid lest I should turn up it in\nthe dark if once I got confused as to the direction, and then paused to\nthink. What was I to do? I had no match; it seemed awful to attempt that\nlong journey back through the utter gloom, and yet I could not stand\nthere all night, and, if I did, probably it would not help me much, for\nin the bowels of the rock it would be as dark at midday as at midnight.\nI looked back over my shoulder--not a sight or a sound. I peered forward\ninto the darkness: surely, far away, I saw something like the faint glow\nof fire. Perhaps it was a cave where I could get a light--at any rate,\nit was worth investigating. Slowly and painfully I crept along the\ntunnel, keeping my hand against its wall, and feeling at every step with\nmy foot before I put it down, fearing lest I should fall into some\npit. Thirty paces--there was a light, a broad light that came and went,\nshining through curtains! Fifty paces--it was close at hand! Sixty--oh,\ngreat heaven!\n\nI was at the curtains, and they did not hang close, so I could see\nclearly into the little cavern beyond them. It had all the appearance of\nbeing a tomb, and was lit up by a fire that burnt in its centre with a\nwhitish flame and without smoke. Indeed, there, to the left, was a stone\nshelf with a little ledge to it three inches or so high, and on the\nshelf lay what I took to be a corpse; at any rate, it looked like one,\nwith something white thrown over it. To the right was a similar shelf,\non which lay some broidered coverings. Over the fire bent the figure of\na woman; she was sideways to me and facing the corpse, wrapped in a dark\nmantle that hid her like a nun's cloak. She seemed to be staring at the\nflickering flame. Suddenly, as I was trying to make up my mind what\nto do, with a convulsive movement that somehow gave an impression of\ndespairing energy, the woman rose to her feet and cast the dark cloak\nfrom her.\n\nIt was _She_ herself!\n\nShe was clothed, as I had seen her when she unveiled, in the kirtle of\nclinging white, cut low upon her bosom, and bound in at the waist with\nthe barbaric double-headed snake, and, as before, her rippling black\nhair fell in heavy masses down her back. But her face was what caught my\neye, and held me as in a vice, not this time by the force of its beauty,\nbut by the power of fascinated terror. The beauty was still there,\nindeed, but the agony, the blind passion, and the awful vindictiveness\ndisplayed upon those quivering features, and in the tortured look of the\nupturned eyes, were such as surpass my powers of description.\n\nFor a moment she stood still, her hands raised high above her head, and\nas she did so the white robe slipped from her down to her golden girdle,\nbaring the blinding loveliness of her form. She stood there, her fingers\nclenched, and the awful look of malevolence gathered and deepened on her\nface.\n\nSuddenly I thought of what would happen if she discovered me, and the\nreflection made me turn sick and faint. But, even if I had known that I\nmust die if I stopped, I do not believe that I could have moved, for\nI was absolutely fascinated. But still I knew my danger. Supposing she\nshould hear me, or see me through the curtain, supposing I even sneezed,\nor that her magic told her that she was being watched--swift indeed\nwould be my doom.\n\nDown came the clenched hands to her sides, then up again above her head,\nand, as I am a living and honourable man, the white flame of the fire\nleapt up after them, almost to the roof, throwing a fierce and ghastly\nglare upon _She_ herself, upon the white figure beneath the covering,\nand every scroll and detail of the rockwork.\n\nDown came the ivory arms again, and as they did so she spoke, or rather\nhissed, in Arabic, in a note that curdled my blood, and for a second\nstopped my heart.\n\n\"Curse her, may she be everlastingly accursed.\"\n\nThe arms fell and the flame sank. Up they went again, and the broad\ntongue of fire shot up after them; and then again they fell.\n\n\"Curse her memory--accursed be the memory of the Egyptian.\"\n\nUp again, and again down.\n\n\"Curse her, the daughter of the Nile, because of her beauty.\n\n\"Curse her, because her magic hath prevailed against me.\n\n\"Curse her, because she held my beloved from me.\"\n\nAnd again the flame dwindled and shrank.\n\nShe put her hands before her eyes, and abandoning the hissing tone,\ncried aloud:--\n\n\"What is the use of cursing?--she prevailed, and she is gone.\"\n\nThen she recommenced with an even more frightful energy:--\n\n\"Curse her where she is. Let my curses reach her where she is and\ndisturb her rest.\n\n\"Curse her through the starry spaces. Let her shadow be accursed.\n\n\"Let my power find her even there.\n\n\"Let her hear me even there. Let her hide herself in the blackness.\n\n\"Let her go down into the pit of despair, because I shall one day find\nher.\"\n\nAgain the flame fell, and again she covered her eyes with her hands.\n\n\"It is of no use--no use,\" she wailed; \"who can reach those who sleep?\nNot even I can reach them.\"\n\nThen once more she began her unholy rites.\n\n\"Curse her when she shall be born again. Let her be born accursed.\n\n\"Let her be utterly accused from the hour of her birth until sleep finds\nher.\n\n\"Yea, then, let her be accursed; for then shall I overtake her with my\nvengeance, and utterly destroy her.\"\n\nAnd so on. The flame rose and fell, reflecting itself in her agonised\neyes; the hissing sound of her terrible maledictions, and no words of\nmine can convey how terrible they were, ran round the walls and died\naway in little echoes, and the fierce light and deep gloom alternated\nthemselves on the white and dreadful form stretched upon that bier of\nstone.\n\nBut at length she seemed to wear herself out and cease. She sat herself\ndown upon the rocky floor, shook the dense cloud of her beautiful hair\nover her face and breast, and began to sob terribly in the torture of a\nheartrending despair.\n\n\"Two thousand years,\" she moaned--\"two thousand years have I wanted and\nendured; but though century doth still creep on to century, and time\ngive place to time, the sting of memory hath not lessened, the light of\nhope doth not shine more bright. Oh! to have lived two thousand years,\nwith all my passion eating out my heart, and with my sin ever before me.\nOh, that for me life cannot bring forgetfulness! Oh, for the weary years\nthat have been and are yet to come, and evermore to come, endless and\nwithout end!\n\n\"My love! my love! my love! Why did that stranger bring thee back to me\nafter this sort? For five hundred years I have not suffered thus. Oh,\nif I sinned against thee, have I not wiped away the sin? When wilt thou\ncome back to me who have all, and yet without thee have naught? What is\nthere that I can do? What? What? What? And perchance she--perchance that\nEgyptian doth abide with thee where thou art, and mock my memory. Oh,\nwhy could I not die with thee, I who slew thee? Alas, that I cannot die!\nAlas! Alas!\" and she flung herself prone upon the ground, and sobbed and\nwept till I thought her heart must burst.\n\nSuddenly she ceased, raised herself to her feet, rearranged her robe,\nand, tossing back her long locks impatiently, swept across to where the\nfigure lay upon the stone.\n\n\"Oh Kallikrates,\" she cried, and I trembled at the name, \"I must look\nupon thy face again, though it be agony. It is a generation since\nI looked upon thee whom I slew--slew with mine own hand,\" and with\ntrembling fingers she seized the corner of the sheet-like wrapping that\ncovered the form upon the stone bier, and then paused. When she spoke\nagain, it was in a kind of awed whisper, as though her idea were\nterrible even to herself.\n\n\"Shall I raise thee,\" she said, apparently addressing the corpse, \"so\nthat thou standest there before me, as of old? I _can_ do it,\" and she\nheld out her hands over the sheeted dead, while her whole frame became\nrigid and terrible to see, and her eyes grew fixed and dull. I shrank in\nhorror behind the curtain, my hair stood up upon my head, and, whether\nit was my imagination or a fact I am unable to say, but I thought that\nthe quiet form beneath the covering began to quiver, and the winding\nsheet to lift as though it lay on the breast of one who slept. Suddenly\nshe withdrew her hands, and the motion of the corpse seemed to me to\ncease.\n\n\"To what purpose?\" she said gloomily. \"Of what good is it to recall the\nsemblance of life when I cannot recall the spirit? Even if thou stoodest\nbefore me thou wouldst not know me, and couldst but do what I bid thee.\nThe life in thee would be _my_ life, and not _thy_ life, Kallikrates.\"\n\nFor a moment she stood there brooding, and then cast herself down on her\nknees beside the form, and began to press her lips against the sheet,\nand weep. There was something so horrible about the sight of this\nawe-inspiring woman letting loose her passion on the dead--so much more\nhorrible even than anything that had gone before--that I could no longer\nbear to look at it, and, turning, began to creep, shaking as I was in\nevery limb, slowly along the pitch-dark passage, feeling in my trembling\nheart that I had seen a vision of a Soul in Hell.\n\nOn I stumbled, I scarcely know how. Twice I fell, once I turned up the\nbisecting passage, but fortunately found out my mistake in time. For\ntwenty minutes or more I crept along, till at last it occurred to me\nthat I must have passed the little stair by which I had descended. So,\nutterly exhausted, and nearly frightened to death, I sank down at length\nthere on the stone flooring, and sank into oblivion.\n\nWhen I came to I noticed a faint ray of light in the passage just behind\nme. I crept to it, and found it was the little stair down which the weak\ndawn was stealing. Passing up it, I gained my chamber in safety, and,\nflinging myself on the couch, was soon lost in slumber or rather stupor.\n\n\n\nXV\n\nAYESHA GIVES JUDGMENT\n\nThe next thing that I remember was opening my eyes and perceiving the\nform of Job, who had now practically recovered from his attack of fever.\nHe was standing in the ray of light that pierced into the cave from\nthe outer air, shaking out my clothes as a makeshift for brushing them,\nwhich he could not do because there was no brush, and then folding them\nup neatly and laying them on the foot of the stone couch. This done, he\ngot my travelling dressing-case out of the Gladstone bag, and opened it\nready for my use. First he stood it on the foot of the couch also, then,\nbeing afraid, I suppose, that I should kick it off, he placed it on a\nleopard skin on the floor, and stood back a step or two to observe the\neffect. It was not satisfactory, so he shut up the bag, turned it on\nend, and, having rested it against the foot of the couch, placed the\ndressing-case on it. Next he looked at the pots full of water, which\nconstituted our washing apparatus. \"Ah!\" I heard him murmur, \"no hot\nwater in this beastly place. I suppose these poor creatures only use it\nto boil each other in,\" and he sighed deeply.\n\n\"What is the matter, Job?\" I said.\n\n\"Beg pardon, sir,\" he said, touching his hair. \"I thought you were\nasleep, sir; and I am sure you seem as though you want it. One might\nthink from the look of you that you had been having a night of it.\"\n\nI only groaned by way of answer. I had, indeed, been having a night of\nit, such as I hope never to have again.\n\n\"How is Mr. Leo, Job?\"\n\n\"Much the same, sir. If he don't soon mend, he'll end, sir; and that's\nall about it; though I must say that that there savage, Ustane, do\ndo her best for him, almost like a baptised Christian. She is always\nhanging round and looking after him, and if I ventures to interfere it's\nawful to see her; her hair seems to stand on end, and she curses and\nswears away in her heathen talk--at least I fancy she must be cursing,\nfrom the look of her.\"\n\n\"And what do you do then?\"\n\n\"I make her a perlite bow, and I say, 'Young woman, your position is one\nthat I don't quite understand, and can't recognise. Let me tell you that\nI has a duty to perform to my master as is incapacitated by illness,\nand that I am going to perform it until I am incapacitated too,' but\nshe don't take no heed, not she--only curses and swears away worse than\never. Last night she put her hand under that sort of night-shirt she\nwears and whips out a knife with a kind of a curl in the blade, so I\nwhips out my revolver, and we walks round and round each other till at\nlast she bursts out laughing. It isn't nice treatment for a Christian\nman to have to put up with from a savage, however handsome she may be,\nbut it is what people must expect as is _fools_ enough\" (Job laid great\nemphasis on the \"fools\") \"to come to such a place to look for things no\nman is meant to find. It's a judgment on us, sir--that's my view; and I,\nfor one, is of opinion that the judgment isn't half done yet, and when\nit is done we shall be done too, and just stop in these beastly caves\nwith the ghosts and the corpseses for once and all. And now, sir, I\nmust be seeing about Mr. Leo's broth, if that wild cat will let me; and,\nperhaps, you would like to get up, sir, because it's past nine o'clock.\"\n\nJob's remarks were not of an exactly cheering order to a man who had\npassed such a night as I had; and, what is more, they had the weight of\ntruth. Taking one thing with another, it appeared to me to be an utter\nimpossibility that we should escape from the place we were. Supposing\nthat Leo recovered, and supposing that _She_ would let us go, which was\nexceedingly doubtful, and that she did not \"blast\" us in some moment of\nvexation, and that we were not hot-potted by the Amahagger, it would be\nquite impossible for us to find our way across the network of marshes\nwhich, stretching for scores and scores of miles, formed a stronger and\nmore impassable fortification round the various Amahagger households\nthan any that could be built or designed by man. No, there was but\none thing to do--face it out; and, speaking for my own part, I was so\nintensely interested in the whole weird story that, so far as I was\nconcerned, notwithstanding the shattered state of my nerves, I asked\nnothing better, even if my life paid forfeit to my curiosity. What man\nfor whom physiology has charms could forbear to study such a character\nas that of this Ayesha when the opportunity of doing so presented\nitself? The very terror of the pursuit added to its fascination, and\nbesides, as I was forced to own to myself even now in the sober light of\nday, she herself had attractions that I could not forget. Not even the\ndreadful sight which I had witnessed during the night could drive that\nfolly from my mind; and alas! that I should have to admit it, it has not\nbeen driven thence to this hour.\n\nAfter I had dressed myself I passed into the eating, or rather embalming\nchamber, and had some food, which was as before brought to me by the\ngirl mutes. When I had finished I went and saw poor Leo, who was quite\noff his head, and did not even know me. I asked Ustane how she thought\nhe was; but she only shook her head and began to cry a little. Evidently\nher hopes were small; and I then and there made up my mind that, if it\nwere in any way possible, I would get _She_ to come and see him. Surely\nshe would cure him if she chose--at any rate she said she could. While I\nwas in the room, Billali entered, and also shook his head.\n\n\"He will die at night,\" he said.\n\n\"God forbid, my father,\" I answered, and turned away with a heavy heart.\n\n\"_She-who-must-be-obeyed_ commands thy presence, my Baboon,\" said the\nold man as soon as we got to the curtain; \"but, oh my dear son, be more\ncareful. Yesterday I made sure in my heart that _She_ would blast thee\nwhen thou didst not crawl upon thy stomach before her. She is sitting in\nthe great hall even now to do justice upon those who would have smitten\nthee and the Lion. Come on, my son; come swiftly.\"\n\nI turned, and followed him down the passage, and when we reached the\ngreat central cave saw that many Amahagger, some robed, and some merely\nclad in the sweet simplicity of a leopard skin, were hurrying along\nit. We mingled with the throng, and walked up the enormous and, indeed,\nalmost interminable cave. All the way its walls were elaborately\nsculptured, and every twenty paces or so passages opened out of it at\nright angles, leading, Billali told me, to tombs, hollowed in the rock\nby \"the people who were before.\" Nobody visited those tombs now, he\nsaid; and I must say that my heart rejoiced when I thought of the\nopportunities of antiquarian research which opened out before me.\n\nAt last we came to the head of the cave, where there was a rock daïs\nalmost exactly similar to the one on which we had been so furiously\nattacked, a fact that proved to me that these daïs must have been used\nas altars, probably for the celebration of religious ceremonies, and\nmore especially of rites connected with the interment of the dead. On\neither side of this daïs were passages leading, Billali informed me, to\nother caves full of dead bodies. \"Indeed,\" he added, \"the whole mountain\nis full of dead, and nearly all of them are perfect.\"\n\nIn front of the daïs were gathered a great number of people of both\nsexes, who stood staring about in their peculiar gloomy fashion, which\nwould have reduced Mark Tapley himself to misery in about five minutes.\nOn the daïs was a rude chair of black wood inlaid with ivory, having\na seat made of grass fibre, and a footstool formed of a wooden slab\nattached to the framework of the chair.\n\nSuddenly there was a cry of \"Hiya! Hiya!\" (\"_She! She!_\"), and thereupon\nthe entire crowd of spectators instantly precipitated itself upon the\nground, and lay still as though it were individually and collectively\nstricken dead, leaving me standing there like some solitary survivor of\na massacre. As it did so a long string of guards began to defile from a\npassage to the left, and ranged themselves on either side of the daïs.\nThen followed about a score of male mutes, then as many women mutes\nbearing lamps, and then a tall white figure, swathed from head to foot,\nin whom I recognised _She_ herself. She mounted the daïs and sat down\nupon the chair, and spoke to me in _Greek_, I suppose because she did\nnot wish those present to understand what she said.\n\n\"Come hither, oh Holly,\" she said, \"and sit thou at my feet, and see me\ndo justice on those who would have slain thee. Forgive me if my Greek\ndoth halt like a lame man; it is so long since I have heard the sound of\nit that my tongue is stiff, and will not bend rightly to the words.\"\n\nI bowed, and, mounting the daïs, sat down at her feet.\n\n\"How hast thou slept, my Holly?\" she asked.\n\n\"I slept not well, oh Ayesha!\" I answered with perfect truth, and with\nan inward fear that perhaps she knew how I had passed the heart of the\nnight.\n\n\"So,\" she said, with a little laugh; \"I, too, have not slept well. Last\nnight I had dreams, and methinks that thou didst call them to me, oh\nHolly.\"\n\n\"Of what didst thou dream, Ayesha?\" I asked indifferently.\n\n\"I dreamed,\" she answered quickly, \"of one I hate and one I love,\" and\nthen, as though to turn the conversation, she addressed the captain of\nher guard in Arabic: \"Let the men be brought before me.\"\n\nThe captain bowed low, for the guard and her attendants did not\nprostrate themselves, but had remained standing, and departed with his\nunderlings down a passage to the right.\n\nThen came a silence. _She_ leaned her swathed head upon her hand and\nappeared to be lost in thought, while the multitude before her continued\nto grovel upon their stomachs, only screwing their heads round a little\nso as to get a view of us with one eye. It seemed that their Queen\nso rarely appeared in public that they were willing to undergo this\ninconvenience, and even graver risks, to have the opportunity of looking\non her, or rather on her garments, for no living man there except myself\nhad ever seen her face. At last we caught sight of the waving of lights,\nand heard the tramp of men coming along the passage, and in filed the\nguard, and with them the survivors of our would-be murderers, to the\nnumber of twenty or more, on whose countenances a natural expression of\nsullenness struggled with the terror that evidently filled their savage\nhearts. They were ranged in front of the daïs, and would have cast\nthemselves down on the floor of the cave like the spectators, but _She_\nstopped them.\n\n\"Nay,\" she said in her softest voice, \"stand; I pray you stand.\nPerchance the time will soon be when ye shall grow weary of being\nstretched out,\" and she laughed melodiously.\n\nI saw a cringe of terror run along the rank of the doomed wretches,\nand, wicked villains as they were, I felt sorry for them. Some minutes,\nperhaps two or three, passed before anything fresh occurred, during\nwhich _She_ appeared from the movement of her head--for, of course,\nwe could not see her eyes--to be slowly and carefully examining each\ndelinquent. At last she spoke, addressing herself to me in a quiet and\ndeliberate tone.\n\n\"Dost thou, oh my guest, recognise these men?\"\n\n\"Ay, oh Queen, nearly all of them,\" I said, and I saw them glower at me\nas I said it.\n\n\"Then tell to me, and this great company, the tale whereof I have\nheard.\"\n\nThus adjured, I, in as few words as I could, related the history of the\ncannibal feast, and of the attempted torture of our poor servant. The\nnarrative was received in perfect silence, both by the accused and by\nthe audience, and also by _She_ herself. When I had done, Ayesha called\nupon Billali by name, and, lifting his head from the ground, but without\nrising, the old man confirmed my story. No further evidence was taken.\n\n\"Ye have heard,\" said _She_ at length, in a cold, clear voice,\nvery different from her usual tones--indeed, it was one of the most\nremarkable things about this extraordinary creature that her voice had\nthe power of suiting itself in a wonderful manner to the mood of the\nmoment. \"What have ye to say, ye rebellious children, why vengeance\nshould not be done upon you?\"\n\nFor some time there was no answer, but at last one of the men, a fine,\nbroad-chested fellow, well on in middle-life, with deep-graven features\nand an eye like a hawk's, spoke, and said that the orders that they had\nreceived were not to harm the white men; nothing was said of their\nblack servant, so, egged on thereto by a woman who was now dead, they\nproceeded to try to hot-pot him after the ancient and honourable custom\nof their country, with a view of eating him in due course. As for their\nsudden attack upon ourselves, it was made in an access of sudden fury,\nand they deeply regretted it. He ended by humbly praying that they might\nbe banished into the swamps, to live and die as it might chance; but I\nsaw it written on his face that he had but little hope of mercy.\n\nThen came a pause, and the most intense silence reigned over the whole\nscene, which, illuminated as it was by the flicker of the lamps striking\nout broad patterns of light and shadow upon the rocky walls, was as\nstrange as any I ever saw, even in that unholy land. Upon the ground\nbefore the daïs were stretched scores of the corpselike forms of the\nspectators, till at last the long lines of them were lost in the\ngloomy background. Before this outstretched audience were the knots\nof evil-doers, trying to cover up their natural terrors with a brave\nappearance of unconcern. On the right and left stood the silent guards,\nrobed in white and armed with great spears and daggers, and men and\nwomen mutes watching with hard curious eyes. Then, seated in her\nbarbaric chair above them all, with myself at her feet, was the veiled\nwhite woman, whose loveliness and awesome power seemed to visibly shine\nabout her like a halo, or rather like the glow from some unseen light.\nNever have I seen her veiled shape look more terrible than it did in\nthat space, while she gathered herself up for vengeance.\n\nAt last it came.\n\n\"Dogs and serpents,\" _She_ began in a low voice that gradually gathered\npower as she went on, till the place rang with it. \"Eaters of human\nflesh, two things have ye done. First, ye have attacked these strangers,\nbeing white men, and would have slain their servant, and for that alone\ndeath is your reward. But that is not all. Ye have dared to disobey me.\nDid I not send my word unto you by Billali, my servant, and the father\nof your household? Did I not bid you to hospitably entertain these\nstrangers, whom now ye have striven to slay, and whom, had not they\nbeen brave and strong beyond the strength of men, ye would cruelly have\nmurdered? Hath it not been taught to you from childhood that the law of\n_She_ is an ever fixed law, and that he who breaketh it by so much as\none jot or tittle shall perish? And is not my lightest word a law?\nHave not your fathers taught you this, I say, whilst as yet ye were but\nchildren? Do ye not know that as well might ye bid these great caves to\nfall upon you, or the sun to cease its journeying, as to hope to turn\nme from my courses, or make my word light or heavy, according to your\nminds? Well do ye know it, ye Wicked Ones. But ye are all evil--evil\nto the core--the wickedness bubbles up in you like a fountain in the\nspring-time. Were it not for me, generations since had ye ceased to be,\nfor of your own evil way had ye destroyed each other. And now, because\nye have done this thing, because ye have striven to put these men, my\nguests, to death, and yet more because ye have dared to disobey my word,\nthis is the doom that I doom you to. That ye be taken to the cave of\ntorture,[*] and given over to the tormentors, and that on the going down\nof to-morrow's sun those of you who yet remain alive be slain, even as\nye would have slain the servant of this my guest.\"\n\n     [*] \"The cave of torture.\" I afterwards saw this dreadful\n     place, also a legacy from the prehistoric people who lived\n     in Kôr. The only objects in the cave itself were slabs of\n     rock arranged in various positions to facilitate the\n     operations of the torturers. Many of these slabs, which were\n     of a porous stone, were stained quite dark with the blood of\n     ancient victims that had soaked into them. Also in the\n     centre of the room was a place for a furnace, with a cavity\n     wherein to heat the historic pot. But the most dreadful\n     thing about the cave was that over each slab was a\n     sculptured illustration of the appropriate torture being\n     applied. These sculptures were so awful that I will not\n     harrow the reader by attempting a description of them.--L.\n     H. H.\n\nShe ceased, and a faint murmur of horror ran round the cave. As for the\nvictims, as soon as they realised the full hideousness of their doom,\ntheir stoicism forsook them, and they flung themselves down upon the\nground, and wept and implored for mercy in a way that was dreadful to\nbehold. I, too, turned to Ayesha, and begged her to spare them, or at\nleast to mete out their fate in some less awful way. But she was hard as\nadamant about it.\n\n\"My Holly,\" she said, again speaking in Greek, which, to tell the truth,\nalthough I have always been considered a better scholar of the language\nthan most men, I found it rather difficult to follow, chiefly because of\nthe change in the fall of the accent. Ayesha, of course, talked with\nthe accent of her contemporaries, whereas we have only tradition and the\nmodern accent to guide us as to the exact pronunciation. \"My Holly, it\ncannot be. Were I to show mercy to those wolves, your lives would not be\nsafe among this people for a day. Thou knowest them not. They are tigers\nto lap blood, and even now they hunger for your lives. How thinkest\nthou that I rule this people? I have but a regiment of guards to do my\nbidding, therefore it is not by force. It is by terror. My empire is\nof the imagination. Once in a generation mayhap I do as I have done but\nnow, and slay a score by torture. Believe not that I would be cruel, or\ntake vengeance on anything so low. What can it profit me to be avenged\non such as these? Those who live long, my Holly, have no passions,\nsave where they have interests. Though I may seem to slay in wrath,\nor because my mood is crossed, it is not so. Thou hast seen how in the\nheavens the little clouds blow this way and that without a cause, yet\nbehind them is the great wind sweeping on its path whither it listeth.\nSo it is with me, oh Holly. My moods and changes are the little clouds,\nand fitfully these seem to turn; but behind them ever blows the great\nwind of my purpose. Nay, the men must die; and die as I have said.\"\nThen, suddenly turning to the captain of the guard:--\n\n\"As my word is, so be it!\"\n\n\n\nXVI\n\nTHE TOMBS OF KÔR\n\nAfter the prisoners had been removed Ayesha waved her hand, and the\nspectators turned round, and began to crawl off down the cave like a\nscattered flock of sheep. When they were a fair distance from the daïs,\nhowever, they rose and walked away, leaving the Queen and myself alone,\nwith the exception of the mutes and the few remaining guards, most of\nwhom had departed with the doomed men. Thinking this a good opportunity,\nI asked _She_ to come and see Leo, telling her of his serious condition;\nbut she would not, saying that he certainly would not die before the\nnight, as people never died of that sort of fever except at nightfall\nor dawn. Also she said that it would be better to let the sickness spend\nits course as much as possible before she cured it. Accordingly, I was\nrising to leave, when she bade me follow her, as she would talk with me,\nand show me the wonders of the caves.\n\nI was too much involved in the web of her fatal fascinations to say her\nno, even if I had wished, which I did not. She rose from her chair, and,\nmaking some signs to the mutes, descended from the daïs. Thereon four\nof the girls took lamps, and ranged themselves two in front and two\nbehind us, but the others went away, as also did the guards.\n\n\"Now,\" she said, \"wouldst thou see some of the wonders of this place, oh\nHolly? Look upon this great cave. Sawest thou ever the like? Yet was it,\nand many more like it, hollowed by the hands of the dead race that once\nlived here in the city on the plain. A great and wonderful people must\nthey have been, those men of Kôr, but, like the Egyptians, they thought\nmore of the dead than of the living. How many men, thinkest thou,\nworking for how many years, did it need to the hollowing out this cave\nand all the galleries thereof?\"\n\n\"Tens of thousands,\" I answered.\n\n\"So, oh Holly. This people was an old people before the Egyptians\nwere. A little can I read of their inscriptions, having found the key\nthereto--and see thou here, this was one of the last of the caves that\nthey hollowed,\" and, turning to the rock behind her, she motioned the\nmutes to hold up the lamps. Carven over the daïs was the figure of an\nold man seated in a chair, with an ivory rod in his hand. It struck me\nat once that his features were exceedingly like those of the man who was\nrepresented as being embalmed in the chamber where we took our meals.\nBeneath the chair, which, by the way, was shaped exactly like the one\nin which Ayesha had sat to give judgment, was a short inscription in the\nextraordinary characters of which I have already spoke, but which I do\nnot remember sufficient of to illustrate. It looked more like Chinese\nwriting than any other that I am acquainted with. This inscription\nAyesha proceeded, with some difficulty and hesitation, to read aloud and\ntranslate. It ran as follows:--\n\n\"In the year four thousand two hundred and fifty-nine from the founding\nof the City of imperial Kôr was this cave (or burial place) completed\nby Tisno, King of Kôr, the people thereof and their slaves having\nlaboured thereat for three generations, to be a tomb for their citizens\nof rank who shall come after. May the blessings of the heaven above the\nheaven rest upon their work, and make the sleep of Tisno, the mighty\nmonarch, the likeness of whose features is graven above, a sound and\nhappy sleep till the day of awakening,[*] and also the sleep of his\nservants, and of those of his race who, rising up after him, shall yet\nlay their heads as low.\"\n\n     [*] This phrase is remarkable, as seeming to indicate a\n     belief in a future state.--Editor.\n\n\"Thou seest, oh Holly,\" she said, \"this people founded the city, of\nwhich the ruins yet cumber the plain yonder, four thousand years before\nthis cave was finished. Yet, when first mine eyes beheld it two thousand\nyears ago, was it even as it is now. Judge, therefore, how old must that\ncity have been! And now, follow thou me, and I will show thee after what\nfashion this great people fell when the time was come for it to fall,\"\nand she led the way down to the centre of the cave, stopping at a spot\nwhere a round rock had been let into a kind of large manhole in the\nflooring, accurately filling it just as the iron plates fill the spaces\nin the London pavements down which the coals are thrown. \"Thou seest,\"\nshe said. \"Tell me, what is it?\"\n\n\"Nay, I know not,\" I answered; whereon she crossed to the left-hand side\nof the cave (looking towards the entrance) and signed to the mutes to\nhold up the lamps. On the wall was something painted with a red pigment\nin similar characters to those hewn beneath the sculpture of Tisno, King\nof Kôr. This inscription she proceeded to translate to me, the pigment\nstill being fresh enough to show the form of the letters. It ran thus:\n\n\"I, Junis, a priest of the Great Temple of Kôr, write this upon the\nrock of the burying-place in the year four thousand eight hundred and\nthree from the founding of Kôr. Kôr is fallen! No more shall the\nmighty feast in her halls, no more shall she rule the world, and her\nnavies go out to commerce with the world. Kôr is fallen! and her mighty\nworks and all the cities of Kôr, and all the harbours that she built\nand the canals that she made, are for the wolf and the owl and the wild\nswan, and the barbarian who comes after. Twenty and five moons ago did\na cloud settle upon Kôr, and the hundred cities of Kôr, and out of the\ncloud came a pestilence that slew her people, old and young, one\nwith another, and spared not. One with another they turned black and\ndied--the young and the old, the rich and the poor, the man and the\nwoman, the prince and the slave. The pestilence slew and slew, and\nceased not by day or by night, and those who escaped from the pestilence\nwere slain of the famine. No longer could the bodies of the children of\nKôr be preserved according to the ancient rites, because of the number\nof the dead, therefore were they hurled into the great pit beneath\nthe cave, through the hole in the floor of the cave. Then, at last, a\nremnant of this the great people, the light of the whole world, went\ndown to the coast and took ship and sailed northwards; and now am I, the\nPriest Junis, who write this, the last man left alive of this great city\nof men, but whether there be any yet left in the other cities I know\nnot. This do I write in misery of heart before I die, because Kôr\nthe Imperial is no more, and because there are none to worship in her\ntemple, and all her palaces are empty, and her princes and her captains\nand her traders and her fair women have passed off the face of the\nearth.\"\n\nI gave a sigh of astonishment--the utter desolation depicted in this\nrude scrawl was so overpowering. It was terrible to think of this\nsolitary survivor of a mighty people recording its fate before he too\nwent down into darkness. What must the old man have felt as, in ghastly\nterrifying solitude, by the light of one lamp feebly illuminating a\nlittle space of gloom, he in a few brief lines daubed the history of his\nnation's death upon the cavern wall? What a subject for the moralist, or\nthe painter, or indeed for any one who can think!\n\n\"Doth it not occur to thee, oh Holly,\" said Ayesha, laying her hand upon\nmy shoulder, \"that those men who sailed North may have been the fathers\nof the first Egyptians?\"\n\n\"Nay, I know not,\" I said; \"it seems that the world is very old.\"\n\n\"Old? Yes, it is old indeed. Time after time have nations, ay, and rich\nand strong nations, learned in the arts, been and passed away and\nbeen forgotten, so that no memory of them remains. This is but one of\nseveral; for Time eats up the works of man, unless, indeed, he digs in\ncaves like the people of Kôr, and then mayhap the sea swallows them, or\nthe earthquake shakes them in. Who knows what hath been on the earth, or\nwhat shall be? There is no new thing under the sun, as the wise Hebrew\nwrote long ago. Yet were not these people utterly destroyed, as I think.\nSome few remained in the other cities, for their cities were many. But\nthe barbarians from the south, or perchance my people, the Arabs,\ncame down upon them, and took their women to wife, and the race of the\nAmahagger that is now is a bastard brood of the mighty sons of Kôr, and\nbehold it dwelleth in the tombs with its fathers' bones.[*] But I know\nnot: who can know? My arts cannot pierce so far into the blackness of\nTime's night. A great people were they. They conquered till none were\nleft to conquer, and then they dwelt at ease within their rocky mountain\nwalls, with their man servants and their maid servants, their minstrels,\ntheir sculptors, and their concubines, and traded and quarrelled, and\nate and hunted and slept and made merry till their time came. But come,\nI will show thee the great pit beneath the cave whereof the writing\nspeaks. Never shall thine eyes witness such another sight.\"\n\n     [*] The name of the race Ama-hagger would seem to indicate a\n     curious mingling of races such as might easily have occurred\n     in the neighbourhood of the Zambesi. The prefix \"Ama\" is\n     common to the Zulu and kindred races, and signifies\n     \"people,\" while \"hagger\" is an Arabic word meaning a stone.\n     --Editor.\n\nAccordingly I followed her to a side passage opening out of the main\ncave, then down a great number of steps, and along an underground shaft\nwhich cannot have been less than sixty feet beneath the surface of the\nrock, and was ventilated by curious borings that ran upward, I know not\nwhere. Suddenly the passage ended, and she halted and bade the mutes\nhold up the lamps, and, as she had prophesied, I saw a scene such as\nI was not likely to see again. We were standing in an enormous pit, or\nrather on the brink of it, for it went down deeper--I do not know how\nmuch--than the level on which we stood, and was edged in with a low wall\nof rock. So far as I could judge, this pit was about the size of the\nspace beneath the dome of St. Paul's in London, and when the lamps were\nheld up I saw that it was nothing but one vast charnel-house, being\nliterally full of thousands of human skeletons, which lay piled up in an\nenormous gleaming pyramid, formed by the slipping down of the bodies\nat the apex as fresh ones were dropped in from above. Anything more\nappalling than this jumbled mass of the remains of a departed race I\ncannot imagine, and what made it even more dreadful was that in this\ndry air a considerable number of the bodies had simply become desiccated\nwith the skin still on them, and now, fixed in every conceivable\nposition, stared at us out of the mountain of white bones, grotesquely\nhorrible caricatures of humanity. In my astonishment I uttered an\nejaculation, and the echoes of my voice, ringing in the vaulted space,\ndisturbed a skull that had been accurately balanced for many thousands\nof years near the apex of the pile. Down it came with a run, bounding\nalong merrily towards us, and of course bringing an avalanche of other\nbones after it, till at last the whole pit rattled with their movement,\neven as though the skeletons were getting up to greet us.\n\n\"Come,\" I said, \"I have seen enough. These are the bodies of those who\ndied of the great sickness, is it not so?\" I added, as we turned away.\n\n\"Yea. The people of Kôr ever embalmed their dead, as did the Egyptians,\nbut their art was greater than the art of the Egyptians, for, whereas\nthe Egyptians disembowelled and drew the brain, the people of Kôr\ninjected fluid into the veins, and thus reached every part. But stay,\nthou shalt see,\" and she halted at haphazard at one of the little\ndoorways opening out of the passage along which we were walking, and\nmotioned to the mutes to light us in. We entered into a small chamber\nsimilar to the one in which I had slept at our first stopping-place,\nonly instead of one there were two stone benches or beds in it. On the\nbenches lay figures covered with yellow linen,[*] on which a fine and\nimpalpable dust had gathered in the course of ages, but nothing like to\nthe extent that one would have anticipated, for in these deep-hewn caves\nthere is no material to turn to dust. About the bodies on the stone\nshelves and floor of the tomb were many painted vases, but I saw very\nfew ornaments or weapons in any of the vaults.\n\n     [*] All the linen that the Amahagger wore was taken from the\n     tombs, which accounted for its yellow hue. It was well\n     washed, however, and properly rebleached, it acquired its\n     former snowy whiteness, and was the softest and best linen I\n     ever saw.--L. H. H.\n\n\"Uplift the cloths, oh Holly,\" said Ayesha, but when I put out my hand\nto do so I drew it back again. It seemed like sacrilege, and, to speak\nthe truth, I was awed by the dread solemnity of the place, and of the\npresences before us. Then, with a little laugh at my fears, she drew\nthem herself, only to discover other and yet finer cloths lying over the\nforms upon the stone bench. These also she withdrew, and then for the\nfirst time for thousands upon thousands of years did living eyes look upon\nthe face of that chilly dead. It was a woman; she might have been\nthirty-five years of age, or perhaps a little less, and had certainly\nbeen beautiful. Even now her calm clear-cut features, marked out with\ndelicate eyebrows and long eyelashes which threw little lines of the\nshadow of the lamplight upon the ivory face, were wonderfully beautiful.\nThere, robed in white, down which her blue-black hair was streaming, she\nslept her last long sleep, and on her arm, its face pressed against her\nbreast, there lay a little babe. So sweet was the sight, although so\nawful, that--I confess it without shame--I could scarcely withhold my\ntears. It took me back across the dim gulf of ages to some happy home in\ndead Imperial Kôr, where this winsome lady girt about with beauty had\nlived and died, and dying taken her last-born with her to the tomb.\nThere they were before us, mother and babe, the white memories of a\nforgotten human history speaking more eloquently to the heart than\ncould any written record of their lives. Reverently I replaced the\ngrave-cloths, and, with a sigh that flowers so fair should, in the\npurpose of the Everlasting, have only bloomed to be gathered to the\ngrave, I turned to the body on the opposite shelf, and gently unveiled\nit. It was that of a man in advanced life, with a long grizzled beard,\nand also robed in white, probably the husband of the lady, who, after\nsurviving her many years, came at the last to sleep once more for good\nand all beside her.\n\nWe left the place and entered others. It would be too long to describe\nthe many things I saw in them. Each one had its occupants, for the five\nhundred and odd years that had elapsed between the completion of the\ncave and the destruction of the race had evidently sufficed to fill\nthese catacombs, numberless as they were, and all appeared to have been\nundisturbed since the day when they were placed there. I could fill a\nbook with the description of them, but to do so would only be to repeat\nwhat I have said, with variations.\n\nNearly all the bodies, so masterfully was the art with which they had\nbeen treated, were as perfect as on the day of death thousands of years\nbefore. Nothing came to injure them in the deep silence of the living\nrock: they were beyond the reach of heat and cold and damp, and the\naromatic drugs with which they had been saturated were evidently\npractically everlasting in their effect. Here and there, however, we saw\nan exception, and in these cases, although the flesh looked sound enough\nexternally, if one touched it it fell in, and revealed the fact that the\nfigure was but a pile of dust. This arose, Ayesha told me, from these\nparticular bodies having, either owing to haste in the burial or\nother causes, been soaked in the preservative,[*] instead of its being\ninjected into the substance of the flesh.\n\n     [*] Ayesha afterwards showed me the tree from the leaves of\n     which this ancient preservative was manufactured. It is a\n     low bush-like tree, that to this day grows in wonderful\n     plenty upon the sides of the mountains, or rather upon the\n     slopes leading up to the rocky walls. The leaves are long\n     and narrow, a vivid green in colour, but turning a bright\n     red in the autumn, and not unlike those of a laurel in\n     general appearance. They have little smell when green, but\n     if boiled the aromatic odour from them is so strong that one\n     can hardly bear it. The best mixture, however, was made from\n     the roots, and among the people of Kôr there was a law,\n     which Ayesha showed me alluded to on some of the\n     inscriptions, to the effect that on pain of heavy penalties\n     no one under a certain rank was to be embalmed with the\n     drugs prepared from the roots. The object and effect of this\n     was, of course, to preserve the trees from extermination.\n     The sale of the leaves and roots was a Government monopoly,\n     and from it the Kings of Kôr derived a large proportion of\n     their private revenue.--L. H. H.\n\nAbout the last tomb we visited I must, however, say one word, for its\ncontents spoke even more eloquently to the human sympathies than those\nof the first. It had but two occupants, and they lay together on a\nsingle shelf. I withdrew the grave-cloths and there, clasped heart to\nheart, were a young man and a blooming girl. Her head rested on his arm,\nand his lips were pressed against her brow. I opened the man's linen\nrobe, and there over his heart was a dagger-wound, and beneath the\nwoman's fair breast was a like cruel stab, through which her life had\nebbed away. On the rock above was an inscription in three words. Ayesha\ntranslated it. It was \"_Wedded in Death_.\"\n\nWhat was the life-story of these two, who, of a truth, were beautiful in\ntheir lives, and in their death were not divided?\n\nI closed my eyelids, and imagination, taking up the thread of thought,\nshot its swift shuttle back across the ages, weaving a picture on their\nblackness so real and vivid in its details that I could almost for a\nmoment think that I had triumphed o'er the Past, and that my spirit's\neyes had pierced the mystery of Time.\n\nI seemed to see this fair girl form--the yellow hair streaming down\nher, glittering against her garments snowy white, and the bosom that\nwas whiter than the robes, even dimming with its lustre her ornaments\nof burnished gold. I seemed to see the great cave filled with warriors,\nbearded and clad in mail, and, on the lighted daïs where Ayesha had\ngiven judgment, a man standing, robed, and surrounded by the symbols of\nhis priestly office. And up the cave there came one clad in purple, and\nbefore him and behind him came minstrels and fair maidens, chanting a\nwedding song. White stood the maid against the altar, fairer than\nthe fairest there--purer than a lily, and more cold than the dew that\nglistens in its heart. But as the man drew near she shuddered. Then out\nof the press and throng there sprang a dark-haired youth, and put his\narms about this long-forgotten maid, and kissed her pale face in which\nthe blood shot up like lights of the red dawn across the silent sky. And\nnext there was turmoil and uproar, and a flashing of swords, and they\ntore the youth from her arms, and stabbed him, but with a cry she\nsnatched the dagger from his belt, and drove it into her snowy breast,\nhome to the heart, and down she fell, and then, with cries and wailing,\nand every sound of lamentation, the pageant rolled away from the arena\nof my vision, and once more the past shut to its book.\n\nLet him who reads forgive the intrusion of a dream into a history of\nfact. But it came so home to me--I saw it all so clear in a moment,\nas it were; and, besides, who shall say what proportion of fact, past,\npresent, or to come, may lie in the imagination? What is imagination?\nPerhaps it is the shadow of the intangible truth, perhaps it is the\nsoul's thought.\n\nIn an instant the whole thing had passed through my brain, and _She_ was\naddressing me.\n\n\"Behold the lot of man,\" said the veiled Ayesha, as she drew the winding\nsheets back over the dead lovers, speaking in a solemn, thrilling voice,\nwhich accorded well with the dream that I had dreamed: \"to the tomb, and\nto the forgetfulness that hides the tomb, must we all come at last! Ay,\neven I who live so long. Even for me, oh Holly, thousands upon thousands\nof years hence; thousands of years after you hast gone through the gate\nand been lost in the mists, a day will dawn whereon I shall die, and be\neven as thou art and these are. And then what will it avail that I have\nlived a little longer, holding off death by the knowledge that I have\nwrung from Nature, since at last I too must die? What is a span of ten\nthousand years, or ten times ten thousand years, in the history of time?\nIt is as naught--it is as the mists that roll up in the sunlight; it\nfleeth away like an hour of sleep or a breath of the Eternal Spirit.\nBehold the lot of man! Certainly it shall overtake us, and we shall\nsleep. Certainly, too, we shall awake and live again, and again shall\nsleep, and so on and on, through periods, spaces, and times, from æon\nunto æon, till the world is dead, and the worlds beyond the world are\ndead, and naught liveth but the Spirit that is Life. But for us twain\nand for these dead ones shall the end of ends be Life, or shall it be\nDeath? As yet Death is but Life's Night, but out of the night is the\nMorrow born again, and doth again beget the Night. Only when Day and\nNight, and Life and Death, are ended and swallowed up in that from which\nthey came, what shall be our fate, oh Holly? Who can see so far? Not\neven I!\"\n\nAnd then, with a sudden change of tone and manner--\n\n\"Hast thou seen enough, my stranger guest, or shall I show thee more of\nthe wonders of these tombs that are my palace halls? If thou wilt, I can\nlead thee to where Tisno, the mightiest and most valorous King of Kôr,\nin whose day these caves were ended, lies in a pomp that seems to mock\nat nothingness, and bid the empty shadows of the past do homage to his\nsculptured vanity!\"\n\n\"I have seen enough, oh Queen,\" I answered. \"My heart is overwhelmed\nby the power of the present Death. Mortality is weak, and easily broken\ndown by a sense of the companionship that waits upon its end. Take me\nhence, oh Ayesha!\"\n\n\n\nXVII\n\nTHE BALANCE TURNS\n\nIn a few minutes, following the lamps of the mutes, which, held out\nfrom the body as a bearer holds water in a vessel, had the appearance of\nfloating down the darkness by themselves, we came to a stair which led\nus to _She's_ ante-room, the same that Billali had crept up upon on all\nfours on the previous day. Here I would have bid the Queen adieu, but\nshe would not.\n\n\"Nay,\" she said, \"enter with me, oh Holly, for of a truth thy\nconversation pleaseth me. Think, oh Holly: for two thousand years have I\nhad none to converse with save slaves and my own thoughts, and though\nof all this thinking hath much wisdom come, and many secrets been made\nplain, yet am I weary of my thoughts, and have come to loathe mine own\nsociety, for surely the food that memory gives to eat is bitter to the\ntaste, and it is only with the teeth of hope that we can bear to bite\nit. Now, though thy thoughts are green and tender, as becometh one so\nyoung, yet are they those of a thinking brain, and in truth thou dost\nbring back to my mind certain of those old philosophers with whom in\ndays bygone I have disputed at Athens, and at Becca in Arabia, for thou\nhast the same crabbed air and dusty look, as though thou hadst passed\nthy days in reading ill-writ Greek, and been stained dark with the grime\nof manuscripts. So draw the curtain, and sit here by my side, and we\nwill eat fruit, and talk of pleasant things. See, I will again unveil\nto thee. Thou hast brought it on thyself, oh Holly; fairly have I warned\nthee--and thou shalt call me beautiful as even those old philosophers\nwere wont to do. Fie upon them, forgetting their philosophy!\"\n\nAnd without more ado she stood up and shook the white wrappings from\nher, and came forth shining and splendid like some glittering snake when\nshe has cast her slough; ay, and fixed her wonderful eyes upon me--more\ndeadly than any Basilisk's--and pierced me through and through with\ntheir beauty, and sent her light laugh ringing through the air like\nchimes of silver bells.\n\nA new mood was on her, and the very colour of her mind seemed to change\nbeneath it. It was no longer torture-torn and hateful, as I had seen\nit when she was cursing her dead rival by the leaping flames, no longer\nicily terrible as in the judgment-hall, no longer rich, and sombre, and\nsplendid, like a Tyrian cloth, as in the dwellings of the dead. No, her\nmood now was that of Aphrodité triumphing. Life--radiant, ecstatic,\nwonderful--seemed to flow from her and around her. Softly she laughed\nand sighed, and swift her glances flew. She shook her heavy tresses,\nand their perfume filled the place; she struck her little sandalled foot\nupon the floor, and hummed a snatch of some old Greek epithalamium. All\nthe majesty was gone, or did but lurk and faintly flicker through her\nlaughing eyes, like lightning seen through sunlight. She had cast off\nthe terror of the leaping flame, the cold power of judgment that was\neven now being done, and the wise sadness of the tombs--cast them off\nand put them behind her, like the white shroud she wore, and now stood\nout the incarnation of lovely tempting womanhood, made more perfect--and\nin a way more spiritual--than ever woman was before.\n\n\"So, my Holly, sit there where thou canst see me. It is by thine own\nwish, remember--again I say, blame me not if thou dost wear away thy\nlittle span with such a sick pain at the heart that thou wouldst fain\nhave died before ever thy curious eyes were set upon me. There, sit so,\nand tell me, for in truth I am inclined for praises--tell me, am I not\nbeautiful? Nay, speak not so hastily; consider well the point; take me\nfeature by feature, forgetting not my form, and my hands and feet, and\nmy hair, and the whiteness of my skin, and then tell me truly, hast\nthou ever known a woman who in aught, ay, in one little portion of\nher beauty, in the curve of an eyelash even, or the modelling of a\nshell-like ear, is justified to hold a light before my loveliness? Now,\nmy waist! Perchance thou thinkest it too large, but of a truth it is not\nso; it is this golden snake that is too large, and doth not bind it as\nit should. It is a wide snake, and knoweth that it is ill to tie in\nthe waist. But see, give me thy hands--so--now press them round me, and\nthere, with but a little force, thy fingers touch, oh Holly.\"\n\nI could bear it no longer. I am but a man, and she was more than a\nwoman. Heaven knows what she was--I do not! But then and there I\nfell upon my knees before her, and told her in a sad mixture of\nlanguages--for such moments confuse the thoughts--that I worshipped her\nas never woman was worshipped, and that I would give my immortal soul\nto marry her, which at that time I certainly would have done, and so,\nindeed, would any other man, or all the race of men rolled into one. For\na moment she looked surprised, and then she began to laugh, and clap her\nhands in glee.\n\n\"Oh, so soon, oh Holly!\" she said. \"I wondered how many minutes it would\nneed to bring thee to thy knees. I have not seen a man kneel before\nme for so many days, and, believe me, to a woman's heart the sight is\nsweet, ay, wisdom and length of days take not from that dear pleasure\nwhich is our sex's only right.\n\n\"What wouldst thou?--what wouldst thou? Thou dost not know what thou\ndoest. Have I not told thee that I am not for thee? I love but one, and\nthou art not the man. Ah Holly, for all thy wisdom--and in a way thou\nart wise--thou art but a fool running after folly. Thou wouldst look\ninto mine eyes--thou wouldst kiss me! Well, if it pleaseth thee,\n_look_,\" and she bent herself towards me, and fixed her dark and\nthrilling orbs upon my own; \"ay, and _kiss_ too, if thou wilt, for,\nthanks be given to the scheme of things, kisses leave no marks, except\nupon the heart. But if thou dost kiss, I tell thee of a surety wilt thou\neat out thy breast with love of me, and die!\" and she bent yet further\ntowards me till her soft hair brushed my brow, and her fragrant breath\nplayed upon my face, and made me faint and weak. Then of a sudden, even\nas I stretched out my hands to clasp, she straightened herself, and a\nquick change passed over her. Reaching out her hand, she held it over my\nhead, and it seemed to me that something flowed from it that chilled\nme back to common sense, and a knowledge of propriety and the domestic\nvirtues.\n\n\"Enough of this wanton folly,\" she said with a touch of sternness.\n\"Listen, Holly. Thou art a good and honest man, and I fain would spare\nthee; but, oh! it is so hard for woman to be merciful. I have said I am\nnot for thee, therefore let thy thoughts pass by me like an idle wind,\nand the dust of thy imagination sink again into the depths--well, of\ndespair, if thou wilt. Thou dost not know me, Holly. Hadst thou seen me\nbut ten hours past when my passion seized me, thou hadst shrunk from me\nin fear and trembling. I am of many moods, and, like the water in that\nvessel, I reflect many things; but they pass, my Holly; they pass, and\nare forgotten. Only the water is the water still, and I still am I, and\nthat which maketh the water maketh it, and that which maketh me maketh\nme, nor can my quality be altered. Therefore, pay no heed to what I\nseem, seeing that thou canst not know what I am. If thou troublest me\nagain I will veil myself, and thou shalt behold my face no more.\"\n\nI rose, and sank on the cushioned couch beside her, yet quivering with\nemotion, though for a moment my mad passion had left me, as the leaves\nof a tree quiver still, although the gust be gone that stirred them. I\ndid not dare to tell her that I _had_ seen her in that deep and hellish\nmood, muttering incantations to the fire in the tomb.\n\n\"So,\" she went on, \"now eat some fruit; believe me, it is the only true\nfood for man. Oh, tell me of the philosophy of that Hebrew Messiah, who\ncame after me, and who thou sayest doth now rule Rome, and Greece, and\nEgypt, and the barbarians beyond. It must have been a strange philosophy\nthat He taught, for in my day the peoples would have naught of our\nphilosophies. Revel and lust and drink, blood and cold steel, and the\nshock of men gathered in the battle--these were the canons of their\ncreeds.\"\n\nI had recovered myself a little by now, and, feeling bitterly ashamed of\nthe weakness into which I had been betrayed, I did my best to expound\nto her the doctrines of Christianity, to which, however, with the single\nexception of our conception of Heaven and Hell, I found that she paid\nbut scant attention, her interest being all directed towards the Man\nwho taught them. Also I told her that among her own people, the Arabs,\nanother prophet, one Mohammed, had arisen and preached a new faith, to\nwhich many millions of mankind now adhered.\n\n\"Ah!\" she said; \"I see--two new religions! I have known so many, and\ndoubtless there have been many more since I knew aught beyond these\ncaves of Kôr. Mankind asks ever of the skies to vision out what\nlies behind them. It is terror for the end, and but a subtler form of\nselfishness--this it is that breeds religions. Mark, my Holly, each\nreligion claims the future for its followers; or, at least, the good\nthereof. The evil is for those benighted ones who will have none of\nit; seeing the light the true believers worship, as the fishes see the\nstars, but dimly. The religions come and the religions pass, and the\ncivilisations come and pass, and naught endures but the world and human\nnature. Ah! if man would but see that hope is from within and not from\nwithout--that he himself must work out his own salvation! He is there,\nand within him is the breath of life and a knowledge of good and evil as\ngood and evil is to him. Thereon let him build and stand erect, and not\ncast himself before the image of some unknown God, modelled like his\npoor self, but with a bigger brain to think the evil thing, and a longer\narm to do it.\"\n\nI thought to myself, which shows how old such reasoning is, being,\nindeed, one of the recurring qualities of theological discussion, that\nher argument sounded very like some that I have heard in the nineteenth\ncentury, and in other places than the caves of Kôr, and with which, by\nthe way, I totally disagree, but I did not care to try and discuss the\nquestion with her. To begin with, my mind was too weary with all the\nemotions through which I had passed, and, in the second place, I knew\nthat I should get the worst of it. It is weary work enough to argue\nwith an ordinary materialist, who hurls statistics and whole strata\nof geological facts at your head, whilst you can only buffet him with\ndeductions and instincts and the snowflakes of faith, that are, alas! so\napt to melt in the hot embers of our troubles. How little chance, then,\nshould I have against one whose brain was supernaturally sharpened,\nand who had two thousand years of experience, besides all manner of\nknowledge of the secrets of Nature at her command! Feeling that she\nwould be more likely to convert me than I should to convert her, I\nthought it best to leave the matter alone, and so sat silent. Many a\ntime since then have I bitterly regretted that I did so, for thereby I\nlost the only opportunity I can remember having had of ascertaining what\nAyesha _really_ believed, and what her \"philosophy\" was.\n\n\"Well, my Holly,\" she continued, \"and so those people of mine have found\na prophet, a false prophet thou sayest, for he is not thine own, and,\nindeed, I doubt it not. Yet in my day was it otherwise, for then we\nArabs had many gods. Allât there was, and Saba, the Host of Heaven, Al\nUzza, and Manah the stony one, for whom the blood of victims flowed,\nand Wadd and Sawâ, and Yaghûth the Lion of the dwellers in Yaman, and\nYäûk the Horse of Morad, and Nasr the Eagle of Hamyar; ay, and many\nmore. Oh, the folly of it all, the shame and the pitiful folly! Yet when\nI rose in wisdom and spoke thereof, surely they would have slain me in\nthe name of their outraged gods. Well, so hath it ever been;--but, my\nHolly, art thou weary of me already, that thou dost sit so silent? Or\ndost thou fear lest I should teach thee my philosophy?--for know I have\na philosophy. What would a teacher be without her own philosophy? and\nif thou dost vex me overmuch beware! for I will have thee learn it, and\nthou shalt be my disciple, and we twain will found a faith that shall\nswallow up all others. Faithless man! And but half an hour since thou\nwast upon thy knees--the posture does not suit thee, Holly--swearing\nthat thou didst love me. What shall we do?--Nay, I have it. I will come\nand see this youth, the Lion, as the old man Billali calls him, who came\nwith thee, and who is so sick. The fever must have run its course by\nnow, and if he is about to die I will recover him. Fear not, my Holly, I\nshall use no magic. Have I not told thee that there is no such thing as\nmagic, though there is such a thing as understanding and applying the\nforces which are in Nature? Go now, and presently, when I have made the\ndrug ready, I will follow thee.\"[*]\n\n     [*] Ayesha was a great chemist, indeed chemistry appears to\n     have been her only amusement and occupation. She had one of\n     the caves fitted up as a laboratory, and, although her\n     appliances were necessarily rude, the results that she\n     attained were, as will become clear in the course of this\n     narrative, sufficiently surprising.--L. H. H.\n\nAccordingly I went, only to find Job and Ustane in a great state of\ngrief, declaring that Leo was in the throes of death, and that they had\nbeen searching for me everywhere. I rushed to the couch, and glanced at\nhim: clearly he was dying. He was senseless, and breathing heavily, but\nhis lips were quivering, and every now and again a little shudder ran\ndown his frame. I knew enough of doctoring to see that in another hour\nhe would be beyond the reach of earthly help--perhaps in another five\nminutes. How I cursed my selfishness and the folly that had kept me\nlingering by Ayesha's side while my dear boy lay dying! Alas and alas!\nhow easily the best of us are lighted down to evil by the gleam of\na woman's eyes! What a wicked wretch was I! Actually, for the last\nhalf-hour I had scarcely thought of Leo, and this, be it remembered,\nof the man who for twenty years had been my dearest companion, and the\nchief interest of my existence. And now, perhaps, it was too late!\n\nI wrung my hands, and glanced round. Ustane was sitting by the couch,\nand in her eyes burnt the dull light of despair. Job was blubbering--I\nam sorry I cannot name his distress by any more delicate word--audibly\nin the corner. Seeing my eye fixed upon him, he went outside to give way\nto his grief in the passage. Obviously the only hope lay in Ayesha. She,\nand she alone--unless, indeed, she was an imposter, which I could\nnot believe--could save him. I would go and implore her to come. As\nI started to do so, however, Job came flying into the room, his hair\nliterally standing on end with terror.\n\n\"Oh, God help us, sir!\" he ejaculated in a frightened whisper, \"here's a\ncorpse a-coming sliding down the passage!\"\n\nFor a moment I was puzzled, but presently, of course, it struck me that\nhe must have seen Ayesha, wrapped in her grave-like garment, and been\ndeceived by the extraordinary undulating smoothness of her walk into a\nbelief that she was a white ghost gliding towards him. Indeed, at that\nvery moment the question was settled, for Ayesha herself was in the\napartment, or rather cave. Job turned, and saw her sheeted form, and\nthen, with a convulsive howl of \"Here it comes!\" sprang into a corner,\nand jammed his face against the wall, and Ustane, guessing whose the\ndread presence must be, prostrated herself upon her face.\n\n\"Thou comest in a good time, Ayesha,\" I said, \"for my boy lies at the\npoint of death.\"\n\n\"So,\" she said softly; \"provided he be not dead, it is no matter, for I\ncan bring him back to life, my Holly. Is that man there thy servant,\nand is that the method wherewith thy servants greet strangers in thy\ncountry?\"\n\n\"He is frightened of thy garb--it hath a death-like air,\" I answered.\n\nShe laughed.\n\n\"And the girl? Ah, I see now. It is she of whom thou didst speak to me.\nWell, bid them both to leave us, and we will see to this sick Lion of\nthine. I love not that underlings should perceive my wisdom.\"\n\nThereon I told Ustane in Arabic and Job in English both to leave the\nroom; an order which the latter obeyed readily enough, and was glad to\nobey, for he could not in any way subdue his fear. But it was otherwise\nwith Ustane.\n\n\"What does _She_ want?\" she whispered, divided between her fear of the\nterrible Queen and her anxiety to remain near Leo. \"It is surely the\nright of a wife to be near her husband when he dieth. Nay, I will not\ngo, my lord the Baboon.\"\n\n\"Why doth not that woman leave us, my Holly?\" asked Ayesha from the\nother end of the cave, where she was engaged in carelessly examining\nsome of the sculptures on the wall.\n\n\"She is not willing to leave Leo,\" I answered, not knowing what to say.\nAyesha wheeled round, and, pointing to the girl Ustane, said one word,\nand one only, but it was quite enough, for the tone in which it was said\nmeant volumes.\n\n\"Go!\"\n\nAnd then Ustane crept past her on her hands and knees, and went.\n\n\"Thou seest, my Holly,\" said Ayesha, with a little laugh, \"it was\nneedful that I should give these people a lesson in obedience. That girl\nwent nigh to disobeying me, but then she did not learn this morn how\nI treat the disobedient. Well, she has gone; and now let me see the\nyouth,\" and she glided towards the couch on which Leo lay, with his face\nin the shadow and turned towards the wall.\n\n\"He hath a noble shape,\" she said, as she bent over him to look upon his\nface.\n\nNext second her tall and willowy form was staggering back across the\nroom, as though she had been shot or stabbed, staggering back till at\nlast she struck the cavern wall, and then there burst from her lips the\nmost awful and unearthly scream that I ever heard in all my life.\n\n\"What is it, Ayesha?\" I cried. \"Is he dead?\"\n\nShe turned, and sprang towards me like a tigress.\n\n\"Thou dog!\" she said, in her terrible whisper, which sounded like the\nhiss of a snake, \"why didst thou hide this from me?\" And she stretched\nout her arm, and I thought that she was about to slay me.\n\n\"What?\" I ejaculated, in the most lively terror; \"what?\"\n\n\"Ah!\" she said, \"perchance thou didst not know. Learn, my Holly, learn:\nthere lies--there lies my lost Kallikrates. Kallikrates, who has come\nback to me at last, as I knew he would, as I knew he would;\" and she\nbegan to sob and to laugh, and generally to conduct herself like any\nother lady who is a little upset, murmuring \"Kallikrates, Kallikrates!\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" thought I to myself, but I did not like to say it; and,\nindeed, at that moment I was thinking of Leo's life, having forgotten\neverything else in that terrible anxiety. What I feared now was that he\nshould die while she was \"carrying on.\"\n\n\"Unless thou art able to help him, Ayesha,\" I put in, by way of a\nreminder, \"thy Kallikrates will soon be far beyond thy calling. Surely\nhe dieth even now.\"\n\n\"True,\" she said, with a start. \"Oh, why did I not come before! I am\nunnerved--my hand trembles, even mine--and yet it is very easy. Here,\nthou Holly, take this phial,\" and she produced a tiny jar of pottery\nfrom the folds of her garment, \"and pour the liquid in it down his\nthroat. It will cure him if he be not dead. Swift, now! Swift! The man\ndies!\"\n\nI glanced towards him; it was true enough, Leo was in his\ndeath-struggle. I saw his poor face turning ashen, and heard the breath\nbegin to rattle in his throat. The phial was stoppered with a little\npiece of wood. I drew it with my teeth, and a drop of the fluid within\nflew out upon my tongue. It had a sweet flavour, and for a second made\nmy head swim, and a mist gather before my eyes, but happily the effect\npassed away as swiftly as it had arisen.\n\nWhen I reached Leo's side he was plainly expiring--his golden head was\nslowly turning from side to side, and his mouth was slightly open. I\ncalled to Ayesha to hold his head, and this she managed to do, though\nthe woman was quivering from head to foot, like an aspen-leaf or a\nstartled horse. Then, forcing the jaw a little more open, I poured the\ncontents of the phial into his mouth. Instantly a little vapour arose\nfrom it, as happens when one disturbs nitric acid, and this sight did\nnot increase my hopes, already faint enough, of the efficacy of the\ntreatment.\n\nOne thing, however, was certain, the death throes ceased--at first I\nthought because he had got beyond them, and crossed the awful river.\nHis face turned to a livid pallor, and his heart-beats, which had been\nfeeble enough before, seemed to die away altogether--only the eyelid\nstill twitched a little. In my doubt I looked up at Ayesha, whose\nhead-wrapping had slipped back in her excitement when she went reeling\nacross the room. She was still holding Leo's head, and, with a face as\npale as his own, watching his countenance with such an expression of\nagonised anxiety as I had never seen before. Clearly she did not know if\nhe would live or die. Five minutes slowly passed and I saw that she was\nabandoning hope; her lovely oval face seemed to fall in and grow visibly\nthinner beneath the pressure of a mental agony whose pencil drew black\nlines about the hollows of her eyes. The coral faded even from her lips,\ntill they were as white as Leo's face, and quivered pitifully. It was\nshocking to see her: even in my own grief I felt for hers.\n\n\"Is it too late?\" I gasped.\n\nShe hid her face in her hands, and made no answer, and I too turned\naway. But as I did so I heard a deep-drawn breath, and looking down\nperceived a line of colour creeping up Leo's face, then another and\nanother, and then, wonder of wonders, the man we had thought dead turned\nover on his side.\n\n\"Thou seest,\" I said in a whisper.\n\n\"I see,\" she answered hoarsely. \"He is saved. I thought we were too\nlate--another moment--one little moment more--and he had been gone!\"\nand she burst into an awful flood of tears, sobbing as though her heart\nwould break, and yet looking lovelier than ever as she did it. As last\nshe ceased.\n\n\"Forgive me, my Holly--forgive me for my weakness,\" she said. \"Thou\nseest after all I am a very woman. Think--now think of it! This morning\ndidst thou speak of the place of torment appointed by this new religion\nof thine. Hell or Hades thou didst call it--a place where the vital\nessence lives and retains an individual memory, and where all the errors\nand faults of judgment, and unsatisfied passions and the unsubstantial\nterrors of the mind wherewith it hath at any time had to do, come to\nmock and haunt and gibe and wring the heart for ever and for ever with\nthe vision of its own hopelessness. Thus, even thus, have I lived for\nfull two thousand years--for some six and sixty generations, as ye\nreckon time--in a Hell, as thou callest it--tormented by the memory of\na crime, tortured day and night with an unfulfilled desire--without\ncompanionship, without comfort, without death, and led on only down my\ndreary road by the marsh lights of Hope, which, though they flickered\nhere and there, and now glowed strong, and now were not, yet, as my\nskill told me, would one day lead unto my deliverer.\n\n\"And then--think of it still, oh Holly, for never shalt thou hear such\nanother tale, or see such another scene, nay, not even if I give thee\nten thousand years of life--and thou shalt have it in payment if thou\nwilt--think: at last my deliverer came--he for whom I had watched and\nwaited through the generations--at the appointed time he came to seek\nme, as I knew that he must come, for my wisdom could not err, though\nI knew not when or how. Yet see how ignorant I was! See how small my\nknowledge, and how faint my strength! For hours he lay there sick unto\ndeath, and I felt it not--I who had waited for him for two thousand\nyears--I knew it not. And then at last I see him, and behold, my chance\nis gone but by a hair's breadth even before I have it, for he is in the\nvery jaws of death, whence no power of mine can draw him. And if he die,\nsurely must the Hell be lived through once more--once more must I face\nthe weary centuries, and wait, and wait till the time in its fulness\nshall bring my Beloved back to me. And then thou gavest him the\nmedicine, and that five minutes dragged long before I knew if he would\nlive or die, and I tell thee that all the sixty generations that are\ngone were not so long as that five minutes. But they passed at length,\nand still he showed no sign, and I knew that if the drug works not then,\nso far as I have had knowledge, it works not at all. Then thought I that\nhe was once more dead, and all the tortures of all the years gathered\nthemselves into a single venomed spear, and pierced me through and\nthrough, because again I had lost Kallikrates! And then, when all was\ndone, behold! he sighed, behold! he lived, and I knew that he would\nlive, for none die on whom the drug takes hold. Think of it now, my\nHolly--think of the wonder of it! He will sleep for twelve hours and\nthen the fever will have left him!\"\n\nShe stopped, and laid her hand upon his golden head, and then bent down\nand kissed his brow with a chastened abandonment of tenderness that\nwould have been beautiful to behold had not the sight cut me to the\nheart--for I was jealous!\n\n\n\nXVIII\n\n\"GO, WOMAN!\"\n\nThen followed a silence of a minute or so, during which _She_ appeared,\nif one might judge from the almost angelic rapture of her face--for she\nlooked angelic sometimes--to be plunged into a happy ecstasy. Suddenly,\nhowever, a new thought struck her, and her expression became the very\nreverse of angelic.\n\n\"Almost had I forgotten,\" she said, \"that woman, Ustane. What is she\nto Kallikrates--his servant, or----\" and she paused, and her voice\ntrembled.\n\nI shrugged my shoulders. \"I understand that she is wed to him according\nto the custom of the Amahagger,\" I answered; \"but I know not.\"\n\nHer face grew dark as a thunder-cloud. Old as she was, Ayesha had not\noutlived jealousy.\n\n\"Then there is an end,\" she said; \"she must die, even now!\"\n\n\"For what crime?\" I asked, horrified. \"She is guilty of naught that thou\nart not guilty of thyself, oh Ayesha. She loves the man, and he has been\npleased to accept her love: where, then, is her sin?\"\n\n\"Truly, oh Holly, thou art foolish,\" she answered, almost petulantly.\n\"Where is her sin? Her sin is that she stands between me and my desire.\nWell, I know that I can take him from her--for dwells there a man upon\nthis earth, oh Holly, who could resist me if I put out my strength?\nMen are faithful for so long only as temptations pass them by. If the\ntemptation be but strong enough, then will the man yield, for every man,\nlike every rope, hath his breaking strain, and passion is to men what\ngold and power are to women--the weight upon their weakness. Believe me,\nill will it go with mortal woman in that heaven of which thou speakest,\nif only the spirits be more fair, for their lords will never turn to\nlook upon them, and their Heaven will become their Hell. For man can be\nbought with woman's beauty, if it be but beautiful enough; and woman's\nbeauty can be ever bought with gold, if only there be gold enough. So\nwas it in my day, and so it will be to the end of time. The world is a\ngreat mart, my Holly, where all things are for sale to whom who bids the\nhighest in the currency of our desires.\"\n\nThese remarks, which were as cynical as might have been expected from\na woman of Ayesha's age and experience, jarred upon me, and I answered,\ntestily, that in our heaven there was no marriage or giving in marriage.\n\n\"Else would it not be heaven, dost thou mean?\" she put in. \"Fie on thee,\nHolly, to think so ill of us poor women! Is it, then, marriage that\nmarks the line between thy heaven and thy hell? but enough of this. This\nis no time for disputing and the challenge of our wits. Why dost thou\nalways dispute? Art thou also a philosopher of these latter days? As\nfor this woman, she must die; for, though I can take her lover from her,\nyet, while she lived, might he think tenderly of her, and that I cannot\naway with. No other woman shall dwell in my Lord's thoughts; my empire\nshall be all my own. She hath had her day, let her be content; for\nbetter is an hour with love than a century of loneliness--now the night\nshall swallow her.\"\n\n\"Nay, nay,\" I cried, \"it would be a wicked crime; and from a crime\nnaught comes but what is evil. For thine own sake, do not this deed.\"\n\n\"Is it, then, a crime, oh foolish man, to put away that which stands\nbetween us and our ends? Then is our life one long crime, my Holly,\nsince day by day we destroy that we may live, since in this world none\nsave the strongest can endure. Those who are weak must perish; the earth\nis to the strong, and the fruits thereof. For every tree that grows a\nscore shall wither, that the strong one may take their share. We run to\nplace and power over the dead bodies of those who fail and fall; ay, we\nwin the food we eat from out of the mouths of starving babes. It is\nthe scheme of things. Thou sayest, too, that a crime breeds evil, but\ntherein thou dost lack experience; for out of crimes come many good\nthings, and out of good grows much evil. The cruel rage of the tyrant\nmay prove a blessing to the thousands who come after him, and the\nsweetheartedness of a holy man may make a nation slaves. Man doeth this,\nand doeth that from the good or evil of his heart; but he knoweth not\nto what end his moral sense doth prompt him; for when he striketh he is\nblind to where the blow shall fall, nor can he count the airy threads\nthat weave the web of circumstance. Good and evil, love and hate, night\nand day, sweet and bitter, man and woman, heaven above and the earth\nbeneath--all these things are necessary, one to the other, and who knows\nthe end of each? I tell thee that there is a hand of fate that twines\nthem up to bear the burden of its purpose, and all things are gathered\nin that great rope to which all things are needful. Therefore doth it\nnot become us to say this thing is evil and this good, or the dark is\nhateful and the light lovely; for to other eyes than ours the evil may\nbe the good and the darkness more beautiful than the day, or all alike\nbe fair. Hearest thou, my Holly?\"\n\nI felt it was hopeless to argue against casuistry of this nature, which,\nif it were carried to its logical conclusion, would absolutely destroy\nall morality, as we understand it. But her talk gave me a fresh thrill\nof fear; for what may not be possible to a being who, unconstrained by\nhuman law, is also absolutely unshackled by a moral sense of right and\nwrong, which, however partial and conventional it may be, is yet\nbased, as our conscience tells us, upon the great wall of individual\nresponsibility that marks off mankind from the beasts?\n\nBut I was deeply anxious to save Ustane, whom I liked and respected,\nfrom the dire fate that overshadowed her at the hands of her mighty\nrival. So I made one more appeal.\n\n\"Ayesha,\" I said, \"thou art too subtle for me; but thou thyself hast\ntold me that each man should be a law unto himself, and follow the\nteaching of his heart. Hath thy heart no mercy towards her whose place\nthou wouldst take? Bethink thee--as thou sayest--though to me the thing\nis incredible--he whom thou desirest has returned to thee after many\nages, and but now thou hast, as thou sayest also, wrung him from the\njaws of death. Wilt thou celebrate his coming by the murder of one who\nloved him, and whom perchance he loved--one, at the least, who saved\nhis life for thee when the spears of thy slaves would have made an end\nthereof? Thou sayest also that in past days thou didst grievously wrong\nthis man, that with thine own hand thou didst slay him because of the\nEgyptian Amenartas whom he loved.\"\n\n\"How knowest thou that, oh stranger? How knowest thou that name? I spoke\nit not to thee,\" she broke in with a cry, catching at my arm.\n\n\"Perchance I dreamed it,\" I answered; \"strange dreams do hover about\nthese caves of Kôr. It seems that the dream was, indeed, a shadow of\nthe truth. What came to thee of thy mad crime?--two thousand years of\nwaiting, was it not? And now wouldst thou repeat the history? Say what\nthou wilt, I tell thee that evil will come of it; for to him who doeth,\nat the least, good breeds good and evil evil, even though in after days\nout of evil cometh good. Offences must needs come; but woe to him by\nwhom the offence cometh. So said that Messiah of whom I spoke to thee,\nand it was truly said. If thou slayest this innocent woman, I say unto\nthee that thou shalt be accursed, and pluck no fruit from thine ancient\ntree of love. Also, what thinkest thou? How will this man take thee\nred-handed from the slaughter of her who loved and tended him?\"\n\n\"As to that,\" she answered, \"I have already answered thee. Had I slain\nthee as well as her, yet should he love me, Holly, because he could not\nsave himself from therefrom any more than thou couldst save thyself from\ndying, if by chance I slew thee, oh Holly. And yet maybe there is truth\nin what thou dost say; for in some way it presseth on my mind. If it\nmay be, I will spare this woman; for have I not told thee that I am not\ncruel for the sake of cruelty? I love not to see suffering, or to cause\nit. Let her come before me--quick now, before my mood changes,\" and she\nhastily covered her face with its gauzy wrapping.\n\nWell pleased to have succeeded even to this extent, I passed out into\nthe passage and called to Ustane, whose white garment I caught sight of\nsome yards away, huddled up against one of the earthenware lamps that\nwere placed at intervals along the tunnel. She rose, and ran towards me.\n\n\"Is my lord dead? Oh, say not he is dead,\" she cried, lifting her\nnoble-looking face, all stained as it was with tears, up to me with an\nair of infinite beseeching that went straight to my heart.\n\n\"Nay, he lives,\" I answered. \"_She_ hath saved him. Enter.\"\n\nShe sighed deeply, entered, and fell upon her hands and knees, after the\ncustom of the Amahagger people, in the presence of the dread _She_.\n\n\"Stand,\" said Ayesha, in her coldest voice, \"and come hither.\"\n\nUstane obeyed, standing before her with bowed head.\n\nThen came a pause, which Ayesha broke.\n\n\"Who is this man?\" she said, pointing to the sleeping form of Leo.\n\n\"The man is my husband,\" she answered in a low voice.\n\n\"Who gave him to thee for a husband?\"\n\n\"I took him according to the custom of our country, oh _She_.\"\n\n\"Thou hast done evil, woman, in taking this man, who is a stranger. He\nis not a man of thine own race, and the custom fails. Listen: perchance\nthou didst this thing through ignorance, therefore, woman, do I spare\nthee, otherwise hadst thou died. Listen again. Go from hence back to\nthine own place, and never dare to speak to or set thine eyes upon this\nman again. He is not for thee. Listen a third time. If thou breakest\nthis my law, that moment thou diest. Go.\"\n\nBut Ustane did not move.\n\n\"Go, woman!\"\n\nThen she looked up, and I saw that her face was torn with passion.\n\n\"Nay, oh _She_. I will not go,\" she answered in a choked voice: \"the\nman is my husband, and I love him--I love him, and I will not leave him.\nWhat right hast thou to command me to leave my husband?\"\n\nI saw a little quiver pass down Ayesha's frame, and shuddered myself,\nfearing the worst.\n\n\"Be pitiful,\" I said in Latin; \"it is but Nature working.\"\n\n\"I am pitiful,\" she answered coldly in the same language; \"had I not\nbeen pitiful she had been dead even now.\" Then, addressing Ustane:\n\"Woman, I say to thee, go before I destroy thee where thou art!\"\n\n\"I will not go! He is mine--mine!\" she cried in anguish. \"I took him,\nand I saved his life! Destroy me, then, if thou hast the power! I will\nnot give thee my husband--never--never!\"\n\nAyesha made a movement so swift that I could scarcely follow it, but it\nseemed to me that she lightly struck the poor girl upon the head with\nher hand. I looked at Ustane, and then staggered back in horror, for\nthere upon her hair, right across her bronze-like tresses, were three\nfinger-marks _white as snow_. As for the girl herself, she had put her\nhands to her head, and was looking dazed.\n\n\"Great heavens!\" I said, perfectly aghast at this dreadful manifestation\nof human power; but _She_ did but laugh a little.\n\n\"Thou thinkest, poor ignorant fool,\" she said to the bewildered woman,\n\"that I have not the power to slay. Stay, there lies a mirror,\" and she\npointed to Leo's round shaving-glass that had been arranged by Job with\nother things upon his portmanteau; \"give it to this woman, my Holly, and\nlet her see that which lies across her hair, and whether or no I have\npower to slay.\"\n\nI picked up the glass, and held it before Ustane's eyes. She gazed, then\nfelt at her hair, then gazed again, and then sank upon the ground with a\nsort of sob.\n\n\"Now, wilt thou go, or must I strike a second time?\" asked Ayesha, in\nmockery. \"Look, I have set my seal upon thee so that I may know thee\ntill thy hair is all as white as it. If I see thy face again, be sure,\ntoo, that thy bones shall soon be whiter than my mark upon thy hair.\"\n\nUtterly awed and broken down, the poor creature rose, and, marked with\nthat awful mark, crept from the room, sobbing bitterly.\n\n\"Look not so frighted, my Holly,\" said Ayesha, when she had gone. \"I\ntell thee I deal not in magic--there is no such thing. 'Tis only a force\nthat thou dost not understand. I marked her to strike terror to her\nheart, else must I have slain her. And now I will bid my servants to\nbear my Lord Kallikrates to a chamber near mine own, that I may watch\nover him, and be ready to greet him when he wakes; and thither, too,\nshalt thou come, my Holly, and the white man, thy servant. But one thing\nremember at thy peril. Naught shalt thou say to Kallikrates as to how\nthis woman went, and as little as may be of me. Now, I have warned\nthee!\" and she slid away to give her orders, leaving me more absolutely\nconfounded than ever. Indeed, so bewildered was I, and racked and torn\nwith such a succession of various emotions, that I began to think that\nI must be going mad. However, perhaps fortunately, I had but little time\nto reflect, for presently the mutes arrived to carry the sleeping Leo\nand our possessions across the central cave, so for a while all was\nbustle. Our new rooms were situated immediately behind what we used to\ncall Ayesha's boudoir--the curtained space where I had first seen her.\nWhere she herself slept I did not then know, but it was somewhere quite\nclose.\n\nThat night I passed in Leo's room, but he slept through it like the\ndead, never once stirring. I also slept fairly well, as, indeed, I\nneeded to do, but my sleep was full of dreams of all the horrors\nand wonders I had undergone. Chiefly, however, I was haunted by that\nfrightful piece of _diablerie_ by which Ayesha left her finger-marks\nupon her rival's hair. There was something so terrible about her swift,\nsnake-like movement, and the instantaneous blanching of that threefold\nline, that, if the results to Ustane had been much more tremendous, I\ndoubt if they would have impressed me so deeply. To this day I often\ndream of that awful scene, and see the weeping woman, bereaved, and\nmarked like Cain, cast a last look at her lover, and creep from the\npresence of her dread Queen.\n\nAnother dream that troubled me originated in the huge pyramid of bones.\nI dreamed that they all stood up and marched past me in thousands\nand tens of thousands--in squadrons, companies, and armies--with the\nsunlight shining through their hollow ribs. On they rushed across the\nplain to Kôr, their imperial home; I saw the drawbridges fall before\nthem, and heard their bones clank through the brazen gates. On they\nwent, up the splendid streets, on past fountains, palaces, and temples\nsuch as the eye of man never saw. But there was no man to greet them in\nthe market-place, and no woman's face appeared at the windows--only\na bodiless voice went before them, calling: \"_Fallen is Imperial\nKôr!--fallen!--fallen! fallen!_\" On, right through the city, marched\nthose gleaming phalanxes, and the rattle of their bony tread echoed\nthrough the silent air as they pressed grimly on. They passed through\nthe city and clomb the wall, and marched along the great roadway that\nwas made upon the wall, till at length they once more reached the\ndrawbridge. Then, as the sun was sinking, they returned again towards\ntheir sepulchre, and luridly his light shone in the sockets of their\nempty eyes, throwing gigantic shadows of their bones, that stretched\naway, and crept and crept like huge spiders' legs as their armies wound\nacross the plain. Then they came to the cave, and once more one by one\nflung themselves in unending files through the hole into the pit of\nbones, and I awoke, shuddering, to see _She_, who had evidently been\nstanding between my couch and Leo's, glide like a shadow from the room.\n\nAfter this I slept again, soundly this time, till morning, when I\nawoke much refreshed, and got up. At last the hour drew near at which,\naccording to Ayesha, Leo was to awake, and with it came _She_ herself,\nas usual, veiled.\n\n\"Thou shalt see, oh Holly,\" she said; \"presently shall he awake in his\nright mind, the fever having left him.\"\n\nHardly were the words out of her mouth, when Leo turned round and\nstretched out his arms, yawned, opened his eyes, and, perceiving a\nfemale form bending over him, threw his arms round her and kissed her,\nmistaking her, perhaps, for Ustane. At any rate, he said, in Arabic,\n\"Hullo, Ustane, why have you tied your head up like that? Have you got\nthe toothache?\" and then, in English, \"I say, I'm awfully hungry. Why,\nJob, you old son of a gun, where the deuce have we got to now--eh?\"\n\n\"I am sure I wish I knew, Mr. Leo,\" said Job, edging suspiciously past\nAyesha, whom he still regarded with the utmost disgust and horror, being\nby no means sure that she was not an animated corpse; \"but you mustn't\ntalk, Mr. Leo, you've been very ill, and given us a great deal of\nhanxiety, and, if this lady,\" looking at Ayesha, \"would be so kind as to\nmove, I'll bring you your soup.\"\n\nThis turned Leo's attention to the \"lady,\" who was standing by in\nperfect silence. \"Hullo!\" he said; \"that is not Ustane--where is\nUstane?\"\n\nThen, for the first time, Ayesha spoke to him, and her first words were\na lie. \"She has gone from hence upon a visit,\" she said; \"and, behold,\nin her place am I here as thine handmaiden.\"\n\nAyesha's silver notes seemed to puzzle Leo's half-awakened intellect,\nas also did her corpse-like wrappings. However, he said nothing at the\ntime, but drank off his soup greedily enough, and then turned over and\nslept again till the evening. When he woke for the second time he saw\nme, and began to question me as to what had happened, but I had to\nput him off as best I could till the morrow, when he awoke almost\nmiraculously better. Then I told him something of his illness and of my\ndoings, but as Ayesha was present I could not tell him much except that\nshe was the Queen of the country, and well disposed towards us, and\nthat it was her pleasure to go veiled; for, though of course I spoke in\nEnglish, I was afraid that she might understand what we were saying from\nthe expression of our faces, and besides, I remembered her warning.\n\nOn the following day Leo got up almost entirely recovered. The flesh\nwound in his side was healed, and his constitution, naturally a vigorous\none, had shaken off the exhaustion consequent on his terrible fever with\na rapidity that I can only attribute to the effects of the wonderful\ndrug which Ayesha had given to him, and also to the fact that his\nillness had been too short to reduce him very much. With his returning\nhealth came back full recollection of all his adventures up to the time\nwhen he had lost consciousness in the marsh, and of course of Ustane\nalso, to whom I had discovered he had grown considerably attached.\nIndeed, he overwhelmed me with questions about the poor girl, which I\ndid not dare to answer, for after Leo's first awakening _She_ had sent\nfor me, and again warned me solemnly that I was to reveal nothing of the\nstory to him, delicately hinting that if I did it would be the worse for\nme. She also, for the second time, cautioned me not to tell Leo anything\nmore than I was obliged about herself, saying that she would reveal\nherself to him in her own time.\n\nIndeed, her whole manner changed. After all that I had seen I had\nexpected that she would take the earliest opportunity of claiming the\nman she believed to be her old-world lover, but this, for some reason of\nher own, which was at the time quite inscrutable to me, she did not do.\nAll that she did was to attend to his wants quietly, and with a humility\nwhich was in striking contrast with her former imperious bearing,\naddressing him always in a tone of something very like respect, and\nkeeping him with her as much as possible. Of course his curiosity was as\nmuch excited about this mysterious woman as my own had been, and he was\nparticularly anxious to see her face, which I had, without entering\ninto particulars, told him was as lovely as her form and voice. This\nin itself was enough to raise the expectations of any young man to a\ndangerous pitch, and, had it not been that he had not as yet completely\nshaken off the effects of illness, and was much troubled in his mind\nabout Ustane, of whose affection and brave devotion he spoke in touching\nterms, I have no doubt that he would have entered into her plans, and\nfallen in love with her by anticipation. As it was, however, he was\nsimply wildly curious, and also, like myself, considerably awed, for,\nthough no hint had been given to him by Ayesha of her extraordinary age,\nhe not unnaturally came to identify her with the woman spoken of on\nthe potsherd. At last, quite driven into a corner by his continual\nquestions, which he showered on me while he was dressing on this third\nmorning, I referred him to Ayesha, saying, with perfect truth, that I\ndid not know where Ustane was. Accordingly, after Leo had eaten a hearty\nbreakfast, we adjourned into _She's_ presence, for her mutes had orders\nto admit us at all hours.\n\nShe was, as usual, seated in what, for want of a better term, we called\nher boudoir, and on the curtains being drawn she rose from her couch\nand, stretching out both hands, came forward to greet us, or rather\nLeo; for I, as may be imagined, was now quite left in the cold. It was\na pretty sight to see her veiled form gliding towards the sturdy young\nEnglishman, dressed in his grey flannel suit; for, though he is half a\nGreek in blood, Leo is, with the exception of his hair, one of the most\nEnglish-looking men I ever saw. He has nothing of the subtle form or\nslippery manner of the modern Greek about him, though I presume that\nhe got his remarkable personal beauty from his foreign mother, whose\nportrait he resembles not a little. He is very tall and big-chested, and\nyet not awkward, as so many big men are, and his head is set upon him in\nsuch a fashion as to give him a proud and vigorous air, which was well\ntranslated in his Amahagger name of the \"Lion.\"\n\n\"Greeting to thee, my young stranger lord,\" she said in her softest\nvoice. \"Right glad am I to see thee upon thy feet. Believe me, had I not\nsaved thee at the last, never wouldst thou have stood upon those feet\nagain. But the danger is done, and it shall be my care\"--and she flung a\nworld of meaning into the words--\"that it doth return no more.\"\n\nLeo bowed to her, and then, in his best Arabic, thanked her for all her\nkindness and courtesy in caring for one unknown to her.\n\n\"Nay,\" she answered softly, \"ill could the world spare such a man.\nBeauty is too rare upon it. Give me no thanks, who am made happy by thy\ncoming.\"\n\n\"Humph! old fellow,\" said Leo aside to me in English, \"the lady is very\ncivil. We seem to have tumbled into clover. I hope that you have made\nthe most of your opportunities. By Jove! what a pair of arms she has\ngot!\"\n\nI nudged him in the ribs to make him keep quiet, for I caught sight of a\ngleam from Ayesha's veiled eyes, which were regarding me curiously.\n\n\"I trust,\" went on Ayesha, \"that my servants have attended well upon\nthee; if there can be comfort in this poor place, be sure it waits on\nthee. Is there aught that I can do for thee more?\"\n\n\"Yes, oh _She_,\" answered Leo hastily, \"I would fain know whither the\nyoung lady who was looking after me has gone to.\"\n\n\"Ah,\" said Ayesha: \"the girl--yes, I saw her. Nay, I know not; she\nsaid that she would go, I know not whither. Perchance she will return,\nperchance not. It is wearisome waiting on the sick, and these savage\nwomen are fickle.\"\n\nLeo looked both sulky and distressed at this intelligence.\n\n\"It's very odd,\" he said to me in English; and then, addressing _She_,\n\"I cannot understand,\" he said; \"the young lady and I--well--in short,\nwe had a regard for each other.\"\n\nAyesha laughed a little very musically, and then turned the subject.\n\n\n\nXIX\n\n\"GIVE ME A BLACK GOAT!\"\n\nThe conversation after this was of such a desultory order that I do not\nquite recollect it. For some reason, perhaps from a desire to keep her\nidentity and character in reserve, Ayesha did not talk freely, as she\nusually did. Presently, however, she informed Leo that she had arranged\na dance that night for our amusement. I was astonished to hear this, as\nI fancied that the Amahagger were much too gloomy a folk to indulge\nin any such frivolity; but, as will presently more clearly appear,\nit turned out that an Amahagger dance has little in common with such\nfantastic festivities in other countries, savage or civilised. Then, as\nwe were about to withdraw, she suggested that Leo might like to see\nsome of the wonders of the caves, and as he gladly assented thither we\ndeparted, accompanied by Job and Billali. To describe our visit would\nonly be to repeat a great deal of what I have already said. The tombs\nwe entered were indeed different, for the whole rock was a honeycomb of\nsepulchres,[*] but the contents were nearly always similar. Afterwards\nwe visited the pyramid of bones that had haunted my dreams on the\nprevious night, and from thence went down a long passage to one of the\ngreat vaults occupied by the bodies of the poorer citizens of Imperial\nKôr. These bodies were not nearly so well preserved as were those of\nthe wealthier classes. Many of them had no linen covering on them, also\nthey were buried from five hundred to one thousand in a single large\nvault, the corpses in some instances being thickly piled one upon\nanother, like a heap of slain.\n\n     [*] For a long while it puzzled me to know what could have\n     been done with the enormous quantities of rock that must\n     have been dug out of these vast caves; but I afterwards\n     discovered that it was for the most part built into the\n     walls and palaces of Kôr, and also used to line the\n     reservoirs and sewers.--L. H. H.\n\nLeo was of course intensely interested in this stupendous and unequalled\nsight, which was, indeed, enough to awake all the imagination a man\nhad in him into the most active life. But to poor Job it did not\nprove attractive. His nerves--already seriously shaken by what he had\nundergone since we had arrived in this terrible country--were, as may\nbe imagined, still further disturbed by the spectacle of these masses of\ndeparted humanity, whereof the forms still remained perfect before his\neyes, though their voices were for ever lost in the eternal silence of\nthe tomb. Nor was he comforted when old Billali, by way of soothing\nhis evident agitation, informed him that he should not be frightened of\nthese dead things, as he would soon be like them himself.\n\n\"There's a nice thing to say of a man, sir,\" he ejaculated, when I\ntranslated this little remark; \"but there, what can one expect of an old\nman-eating savage? Not but what I dare say he's right,\" and Job sighed.\n\nWhen we had finished inspecting the caves, we returned and had our\nmeal, for it was now past four in the afternoon, and we all--especially\nLeo--needed some food and rest. At six o'clock we, together with Job,\nwaited on Ayesha, who set to work to terrify our poor servant still\nfurther by showing him pictures on the pool of water in the font-like\nvessel. She learnt from me that he was one of seventeen children, and\nthen bid him think of all his brothers and sisters, or as many of them\nas he could, gathered together in his father's cottage. Then she told\nhim to look in the water, and there, reflected from its stilly surface,\nwas that dead scene of many years gone by, as it was recalled to our\nretainer's brain. Some of the faces were clear enough, but some were\nmere blurs and splotches, or with one feature grossly exaggerated; the\nfact being that, in these instances, Job had been unable to recall\nthe exact appearances of the individuals, or remembered them only by a\npeculiarity of his tribe, and the water could only reflect what he saw\nwith his mind's eye. For it must be remembered that _She's_ power in\nthis matter was strictly limited; she could apparently, except in very\nrare instances, only photograph upon the water what was actually in the\nmind of some one present, and then only by his will. But, if she was\npersonally acquainted with a locality, she could, as in the case of\nourselves and the whale-boat, throw its reflection upon the water, and\nalso, it seems, the reflection of anything extraneous that was passing\nthere at the time. This power, however, did not extend to the minds\nof others. For instance, she could show me the interior of my college\nchapel, as I remembered it, but not as it was at the moment of\nreflection; for, where other people were concerned, her art was strictly\nlimited to the facts or memories present to _their_ consciousness at the\nmoment. So much was this so that when we tried, for her amusement, to\nshow her pictures of noted buildings, such as St. Paul's or the Houses\nof Parliament, the result was most imperfect; for, of course, though we\nhad a good general idea of their appearance, we could not recall all the\narchitectural details, and therefore the minutiæ necessary to a perfect\nreflection were wanting. But Job could not be got to understand this,\nand, so far from accepting a natural explanation of the matter, which\nwas after all, though strange enough in all conscience, nothing more\nthan an instance of glorified and perfected telepathy, he set the whole\nthing down as a manifestation of the blackest magic. I shall never\nforget the howl of terror which he uttered when he saw the more or less\nperfect portraits of his long-scattered brethren staring at him from the\nquiet water, or the merry peal of laughter with which Ayesha greeted his\nconsternation. As for Leo, he did not altogether like it either, but ran\nhis fingers through his yellow curls, and remarked that it gave him the\ncreeps.\n\nAfter about an hour of this amusement, in the latter part of which Job\ndid _not_ participate, the mutes by signs indicated that Billali was\nwaiting for an audience. Accordingly he was told to \"crawl up,\" which\nhe did as awkwardly as usual, and announced that the dance was ready\nto begin if _She_ and the white strangers would be pleased to attend.\nShortly afterwards we all rose, and, Ayesha having thrown a dark cloak\n(the same, by the way, that she had worn when I saw her cursing by the\nfire) over her white wrappings, we started. The dance was to be held in\nthe open air, on the smooth rocky plateau in front of the great cave,\nand thither we made our way. About fifteen paces from the mouth of the\ncave we found three chairs placed, and here we sat and waited, for as\nyet no dancers were to be seen. The night was almost, but not quite,\ndark, the moon not having risen as yet, which made us wonder how we\nshould be able to see the dancing.\n\n\"Thou wilt presently understand,\" said Ayesha, with a little laugh, when\nLeo asked her; and we certainly did. Scarcely were the words out of her\nmouth when from every point we saw dark forms rushing up, each bearing\nwith him what we at first took to be an enormous flaming torch. Whatever\nthey were, they were burning furiously, for the flames stood out a\nyard or more behind each bearer. On they came, fifty or more of them,\ncarrying their flaming burdens and looking like so many devils from\nhell. Leo was the first to discover what these burdens were.\n\n\"Great heaven!\" he said, \"they are corpses on fire!\"\n\nI stared and stared again--he was perfectly right--the torches that were\nto light our entertainment were human mummies from the caves!\n\nOn rushed the bearers of the flaming corpses, and, meeting at a spot\nabout twenty paces in front of us, built their ghastly burdens crossways\ninto a huge bonfire. Heavens! how they roared and flared! No tar barrel\ncould have burnt as those mummies did. Nor was this all. Suddenly I\nsaw one great fellow seize a flaming human arm that had fallen from its\nparent frame, and rush off into the darkness. Presently he stopped, and\na tall streak of fire shot up into the air, illumining the gloom, and\nalso the lamp from which it sprang. That lamp was the mummy of a woman\ntied to a stout stake let into the rock, and he had fired her hair. On\nhe went a few paces and touched a second, then a third, and a fourth,\ntill at last we were surrounded on all three sides by a great ring of\nbodies flaring furiously, the material with which they were preserved\nhaving rendered them so inflammable that the flames would literally\nspout out of the ears and mouth in tongues of fire a foot or more in\nlength.\n\nNero illuminated his gardens with live Christians soaked in tar, and\nwe were now treated to a similar spectacle, probably for the first time\nsince his day, only happily our lamps were not living ones.\n\nBut, although this element of horror was fortunately wanting, to\ndescribe the awful and hideous grandeur of the spectacle thus presented\nto us is, I feel, so absolutely beyond my poor powers that I scarcely\ndare attempt it. To begin with, it appealed to the moral as well as the\nphysical susceptibilities. There was something very terrible, and yet\nvery fascinating, about the employment of the remote dead to illumine\nthe orgies of the living; in itself the thing was a satire, both on the\nliving and the dead. Cæsar's dust--or is it Alexander's?--may stop a\nbunghole, but the functions of these dead Cæsars of the past was to\nlight up a savage fetish dance. To such base uses may we come, of so\nlittle account may we be in the minds of the eager multitudes that we\nshall breed, many of whom, so far from revering our memory, will live to\ncurse us for begetting them into such a world of woe.\n\nThen there was the physical side of the spectacle, and a weird and\nsplendid one it was. Those old citizens of Kôr burnt as, to judge from\ntheir sculptures and inscriptions, they had lived, very fast, and with\nthe utmost liberality. What is more, there were plenty of them. As soon\nas ever a mummy had burnt down to the ankles, which it did in about\ntwenty minutes, the feet were kicked away, and another one put in its\nplace. The bonfire was kept going on the same generous scale, and its\nflames shot up, with a hiss and a crackle, twenty or thirty feet into\nthe air, throwing great flashes of light far out into the gloom, through\nwhich the dark forms of the Amahagger flitted to and fro like\ndevils replenishing the infernal fires. We all stood and stared\naghast--shocked, and yet fascinated at so strange a spectacle, and half\nexpecting to see the spirits those flaming forms had once enclosed come\ncreeping from the shadows to work vengeance on their desecrators.\n\n\"I promised thee a strange sight, my Holly,\" laughed Ayesha, whose\nnerves alone did not seem to be affected; \"and, behold, I have not\nfailed thee. Also, it hath its lesson. Trust not to the future, for\nwho knows what the future may bring! Therefore, live for the day, and\nendeavour not to escape the dust which seems to be man's end. What\nthinkest thou those long-forgotten nobles and ladies would have felt had\nthey known that they should one day flare to light the dance or boil the\npot of savages? But see, here come the dancers; a merry crew--are they\nnot? The stage is lit--now for the play.\"\n\nAs she spoke, we perceived two lines of figures, one male and the other\nfemale, to the number of about a hundred, each advancing round the human\nbonfire, arrayed only in the usual leopard and buck skins. They formed\nup, in perfect silence, in two lines, facing each other between us\nand the fire, and then the dance--a sort of infernal and fiendish\ncancan--began. To describe it is quite impossible, but, though there was\na good deal of tossing of legs and double-shuffling, it seemed to our\nuntutored minds to be more of a play than a dance, and, as usual with\nthis dreadful people, whose minds seem to have taken their colour from\nthe caves in which they live, and whose jokes and amusements are drawn\nfrom the inexhaustible stores of preserved mortality with which they\nshare their homes, the subject appeared to be a most ghastly one. I\nknow that it represented an attempted murder first of all, and then the\nburial alive of the victim and his struggling from the grave; each act\nof the abominable drama, which was carried on in perfect silence, being\nrounded off and finished with a furious and most revolting dance round\nthe supposed victim, who writhed upon the ground in the red light of the\nbonfire.\n\nPresently, however, this pleasing piece was interrupted. Suddenly there\nwas a slight commotion, and a large powerful woman, whom I had noted as\none of the most vigorous of the dancers, came, made mad and drunken with\nunholy excitement, bounding and staggering towards us, shrieking out as\nshe came:--\n\n\"I want a Black Goat, I must have a Black Goat, bring me a Black\nGoat!\" and down she fell upon the rocky floor foaming and writhing, and\nshrieking for a Black Goat, about as hideous a spectacle as can well be\nconceived.\n\nInstantly most of the dancers came up and got round her, though some\nstill continued their capers in the background.\n\n\"She has got a Devil,\" called out one of them. \"Run and get a black\ngoat. There, Devil, keep quiet! keep quiet! You shall have the goat\npresently. They have gone to fetch it, Devil.\"\n\n\"I want a Black Goat, I must have a Black Goat!\" shrieked the foaming\nrolling creature again.\n\n\"All right, Devil, the goat will be here presently; keep quiet, there's\na good Devil!\"\n\nAnd so on till the goat, taken from a neighbouring kraal, did at last\narrive, being dragged bleating on to the scene by its horns.\n\n\"Is it a Black One, is it a Black One?\" shrieked the possessed.\n\n\"Yes, yes, Devil, as black as night;\" then aside, \"keep it behind thee,\ndon't let the Devil see that it has got a white spot on its rump and\nanother on its belly. In one minute, Devil. There, cut his throat quick.\nWhere is the saucer?\"\n\n\"The Goat! the Goat! the Goat! Give me the blood of my black goat! I\nmust have it, don't you see I must have it? Oh! oh! oh! give me the\nblood of the goat.\"\n\nAt this moment a terrified _bah!_ announced that the poor goat had been\nsacrificed, and the next minute a woman ran up with a saucer full of\nblood. This the possessed creature, who was then raving and foaming her\nwildest, seized and _drank_, and was instantly recovered, and without\na trace of hysteria, or fits, or being possessed, or whatever dreadful\nthing it was she was suffering from. She stretched her arms, smiled\nfaintly, and walked quietly back to the dancers, who presently withdrew\nin a double line as they had come, leaving the space between us and the\nbonfire deserted.\n\nI thought that the entertainment was now over, and, feeling rather\nqueer, was about to ask _She_ if we could rise, when suddenly what\nat first I took to be a baboon came hopping round the fire, and was\ninstantly met upon the other side by a lion, or rather a human being\ndressed in a lion's skin. Then came a goat, then a man wrapped in an\nox's hide, with the horns wobbling about in a ludicrous way. After him\nfollowed a blesbok, then an impala, then a koodoo, then more goats, and\nmany other animals, including a girl sewn up in the shining scaly hide\nof a boa-constrictor, several yards of which trailed along the ground\nbehind her. When all the beasts had collected they began to dance about\nin a lumbering, unnatural fashion, and to imitate the sounds produced\nby the respective animals they represented, till the whole air was alive\nwith roars and bleating and the hissing of snakes. This went on for a\nlong time, till, getting tired of the pantomime, I asked Ayesha if there\nwould be any objection to Leo and myself walking round to inspect the\nhuman torches, and, as she had nothing to say against it, we started,\nstriking round to the left. After looking at one or two of the flaming\nbodies, we were about to return, thoroughly disgusted with the grotesque\nweirdness of the spectacle, when our attention was attracted by one of\nthe dancers, a particularly active leopard, that had separated itself\nfrom its fellow-beasts, and was whisking about in our immediate\nneighbourhood, but gradually drawing into a spot where the shadow\nwas darkest, equidistant between two of the flaming mummies. Drawn by\ncuriosity, we followed it, when suddenly it darted past us into the\nshadows beyond, and as it did so erected itself and whispered, \"Come,\"\nin a voice that we both recognised as that of Ustane. Without waiting to\nconsult me Leo turned and followed her into the outer darkness, and I,\nfeeling sick enough at heart, went after them. The leopard crawled on\nfor about fifty paces--a sufficient distance to be quite beyond the\nlight of the fire and torches--and then Leo came up with it, or, rather,\nwith Ustane.\n\n\"Oh, my lord,\" I heard her whisper, \"so I have found thee! Listen. I am\nin peril of my life from '_She-who-must-be-obeyed_.' Surely the Baboon\nhas told thee how she drove me from thee? I love thee, my lord, and thou\nart mine according to the custom of the country. I saved thy life! My\nLion, wilt thou cast me off now?\"\n\n\"Of course not,\" ejaculated Leo; \"I have been wondering whither thou\nhadst gone. Let us go and explain matters to the Queen.\"\n\n\"Nay, nay, she would slay us. Thou knowest not her power--the Baboon\nthere, he knoweth, for he saw. Nay, there is but one way: if thou wilt\ncleave to me, thou must flee with me across the marshes even now, and\nthen perchance we may escape.\"\n\n\"For Heaven's sake, Leo,\" I began, but she broke in--\n\n\"Nay, listen not to him. Swift--be swift--death is in the air we\nbreathe. Even now, mayhap, _She_ heareth us,\" and without more ado she\nproceeded to back her arguments by throwing herself into his arms. As\nshe did so the leopard's head slipped from her hair, and I saw the three\nwhite finger-marks upon it, gleaming faintly in the starlight. Once\nmore realising the desperate nature of the position, I was about to\ninterpose, for I knew that Leo was not too strong-minded where women\nwere concerned, when--oh! horror!--I heard a little silvery laugh behind\nme. I turned round, and there was _She_ herself, and with her Billali\nand two male mutes. I gasped and nearly sank to the ground, for I knew\nthat such a situation must result in some dreadful tragedy, of which it\nseemed exceedingly probable to me that I should be the first victim. As\nfor Ustane, she untwined her arms and covered her eyes with her hands,\nwhile Leo, not knowing the full terror of the position, merely covered\nup, and looked as foolish as a man caught in such a trap would naturally\ndo.\n\n\n\nXX\n\nTRIUMPH\n\nThen followed a moment of the most painful silence that I ever endured.\nIt was broken by Ayesha, who addressed herself to Leo.\n\n\"Nay, now, my lord and guest,\" she said in her softest tones, which yet\nhad the ring of steel about them, \"look not so bashful. Surely the sight\nwas a pretty one--the leopard and the lion!\"\n\n\"Oh, hang it all!\" said Leo in English.\n\n\"And thou, Ustane,\" she went on, \"surely I should have passed thee by,\nhad not the light fallen on the white across thy hair,\" and she pointed\nto the bright edge of the rising moon which was now appearing above\nthe horizon. \"Well! well! the dance is done--see, the tapers have burnt\ndown, and all things end in silence and in ashes. So thou thoughtest\nit a fit time for love, Ustane, my servant--and I, dreaming not that I\ncould be disobeyed, thought thee already far away.\"\n\n\"Play not with me,\" moaned the wretched woman; \"slay me, and let there\nbe an end.\"\n\n\"Nay, why? It is not well to go so swift from the hot lips of love down\nto the cold mouth of the grave,\" and she made a motion to the mutes, who\ninstantly stepped up and caught the girl by either arm. With an oath Leo\nsprang upon the nearest, and hurled him to the ground, and then stood\nover him with his face set, and his fist ready.\n\nAgain Ayesha laughed. \"It was well thrown, my guest; thou hast a strong\narm for one who so late was sick. But now out of thy courtesy I pray\nthee let that man live and do my bidding. He shall not harm the girl;\nthe night air grows chill, and I would welcome her in mine own place.\nSurely she whom thou dost favour shall be favoured of me also.\"\n\nI took Leo by the arm, and pulled him from the prostrate mute, and he,\nhalf bewildered, obeyed the pressure. Then we all set out for the cave\nacross the plateau, where a pile of white human ashes was all that\nremained of the fire that had lit the dancing, for the dancers had\nvanished.\n\nIn due course we gained Ayesha's boudoir--all too soon, it seemed to me,\nhaving a sad presage of what was to come lying heavy on my heart.\n\nAyesha seated herself upon her cushions, and, having dismissed Job and\nBillali, by signs bade the mutes tend the lamps and retire--all save\none girl, who was her favourite personal attendant. We three remained\nstanding, the unfortunate Ustane a little to the left of the rest of us.\n\n\"Now, oh Holly,\" Ayesha began, \"how came it that thou who didst hear\nmy words bidding this evil-doer\"--and she pointed to Ustane--\"to go\nhence--thou at whose prayer I did weakly spare her life--how came it,\nI say, that thou wast a sharer in what I saw to-night? Answer, and for\nthine own sake, I say, speak all the truth, for I am not minded to hear\nlies upon this matter!\"\n\n\"It was by accident, oh Queen,\" I answered. \"I knew naught of it.\"\n\n\"I do believe thee, oh Holly,\" she answered coldly, \"and well it is for\nthee that I do--then does the whole guilt rest upon her.\"\n\n\"I do not find any guilt therein,\" broke in Leo. \"She is not another\nman's wife, and it appears that she has married me according to the\ncustom of this awful place, so who is the worse? Any way, madam,\" he\nwent on, \"whatever she has done I have done too, so if she is to be\npunished let me be punished also; and I tell thee,\" he went on, working\nhimself up into a fury, \"that if thou biddest one of those dead and dumb\nvillains to touch her again I will tear him to pieces!\" And he looked as\nthough he meant it.\n\nAyesha listened in icy silence, and made no remark. When he had\nfinished, however, she addressed Ustane.\n\n\"Hast thou aught to say, woman? Thou silly straw, thou feather, who\ndidst think to float towards thy passion's petty ends, even against the\ngreat wind of my will! Tell me, for I fain would understand. Why didst\nthou this thing?\"\n\nAnd then I think I saw the most tremendous exhibition of moral courage\nand intrepidity that it is possible to conceive. For the poor doomed\ngirl, knowing what she had to expect at the hands of her terrible Queen,\nknowing, too, from bitter experience, how great was her adversary's\npower, yet gathered herself together, and out of the very depths of her\ndespair drew materials to defy her.\n\n\"I did it, oh _She_,\" she answered, drawing herself up to the full of\nher stately height, and throwing back the panther skin from her head,\n\"because my love is stronger than the grave. I did it because my life\nwithout this man whom my heart chose would be but a living death.\nTherefore did I risk my life, and, now that I know that it is forfeit\nto thine anger, yet am I glad that I did risk it, and pay it away in the\nrisking, ay, because he embraced me once, and told me that he loved me\nyet.\"\n\nHere Ayesha half rose from her couch, and then sank down again.\n\n\"I have no magic,\" went on Ustane, her rich voice ringing strong and\nfull, \"and I am not a Queen, nor do I live for ever, but a woman's heart\nis heavy to sink through waters, however deep, oh Queen! and a woman's\neyes are quick to see--even through thy veil, oh Queen!\n\n\"Listen: I know it, thou dost love this man thyself, and therefore\nwouldst thou destroy me who stand across thy path. Ay, I die--I die, and\ngo into the darkness, nor know I whither I go. But this I know. There is\na light shining in my breast, and by that light, as by a lamp, I see\nthe truth, and the future that I shall not share unroll itself before\nme like a scroll. When first I knew my lord,\" and she pointed to Leo, \"I\nknew also that death would be the bridal gift he gave me--it rushed upon\nme of a sudden, but I turned not back, being ready to pay the price,\nand, behold, death is here! And now, even as I knew that, so do I,\nstanding on the steps of doom, know that thou shalt not reap the profit\nof thy crime. Mine he is, and, though thy beauty shine like a sun among\nthe stars, mine shall he remain for thee. Never here in this life shall\nhe look thee in the eyes and call thee spouse. Thou too art doomed, I\nsee\"--and her voice rang like the cry of an inspired prophetess; \"ah, I\nsee----\"\n\nThen came an answering cry of mingled rage and terror. I turned my head.\nAyesha had risen, and was standing with her outstretched hand pointing\nat Ustane, who had suddenly stopped speaking. I gazed at the poor\nwoman, and as I gazed there came upon her face that same woeful, fixed\nexpression of terror that I had seen once before when she had broken out\ninto her wild chant. Her eyes grew large, her nostrils dilated, and her\nlips blanched.\n\nAyesha said nothing, she made no sound, she only drew herself up,\nstretched out her arm, and, her tall veiled frame quivering like an\naspen leaf, appeared to look fixedly at her victim. Even as she did so\nUstane put her hands to her head, uttered one piercing scream, turned\nround twice, and then fell backwards with a thud--prone upon the floor.\nBoth Leo and myself rushed to her--she was stone dead--blasted into\ndeath by some mysterious electric agency or overwhelming will-force\nwhereof the dread _She_ had command.\n\nFor a moment Leo did not quite realise what had happened. But, when he\ndid, his face was awful to see. With a savage oath he rose from beside\nthe corpse, and, turning, literally sprang at Ayesha. But she was\nwatching, and, seeing him come, stretched out her hand again, and he\nwent staggering back towards me, and would have fallen, had I not\ncaught him. Afterwards he told me that he felt as though he had suddenly\nreceived a violent blow in the chest, and, what is more, utterly cowed,\nas if all the manhood had been taken out of him.\n\nThen Ayesha spoke. \"Forgive me, my guest,\" she said softly, addressing\nhim, \"if I have shocked thee with my justice.\"\n\n\"Forgive thee, thou fiend,\" roared poor Leo, wringing his hands in his\nrage and grief. \"Forgive thee, thou murderess! By Heaven, I will kill\nthee if I can!\"\n\n\"Nay, nay,\" she answered in the same soft voice, \"thou dost not\nunderstand--the time has come for thee to learn. _Thou_ art my love,\nmy Kallikrates, my Beautiful, my Strong! For two thousand years,\nKallikrates, have I waited for _thee_, and now at length thou hast come\nback to me; and as for this woman,\" pointing to the corpse, \"she\nstood between me and thee, and therefore have I laid her in the dust,\nKallikrates.\"\n\n\"It is an accursed lie!\" said Leo. \"My name is not Kallikrates! I am Leo\nVincey; my ancestor was Kallikrates--at least, I believe he was.\"\n\n\"Ah, thou sayest it--thine ancestor was Kallikrates, and thou, even\nthou, art Kallikrates reborn, come back--and mine own dear lord!\"\n\n\"I am not Kallikrates, and, as for being thy lord, or having aught to do\nwith thee, I had sooner be the lord of a fiend from hell, for she would\nbe better than thou.\"\n\n\"Sayest thou so--sayest thou so, Kallikrates? Nay, but thou hast not\nseen me for so long a time that no memory remains. Yet am I very fair,\nKallikrates!\"\n\n\"I hate thee, murderess, and I have no wish to see thee. What is it to\nme how fair thou art? I hate thee, I say.\"\n\n\"Yet within a very little space shalt thou creep to my knee, and swear\nthat thou dost love me,\" answered Ayesha, with a sweet, mocking laugh.\n\"Come, there is no time like the present time, here before this dead\ngirl who loved thee, let us put it to the proof.\n\n\"Look now on me, Kallikrates!\" and with a sudden motion she shook her\ngauzy covering from her, and stood forth in her low kirtle and her snaky\nzone, in her glorious radiant beauty and her imperial grace, rising from\nher wrappings, as it were, like Venus from the wave, or Galatea from her\nmarble, or a beatified spirit from the tomb. She stood forth, and fixed\nher deep and glowing eyes upon Leo's eyes, and I saw his clenched fists\nunclasp, and his set and quivering features relax beneath her gaze.\nI saw his wonder and astonishment grow into admiration, and then into\nfascination, and the more he struggled the more I saw the power of her\ndread beauty fasten on him and take possession of his senses, drugging\nthem, and drawing the heart out of him. Did I not know the process? Had\nnot I, who was twice his age, gone through it myself? Was I not going\nthrough it afresh even then, although her sweet and passionate gaze was\nnot for me? Yes, alas, I was! Alas, that I should have to confess that\nat that very moment I was rent by mad and furious jealousy. I could\nhave flown at him, shame upon me! The woman had confounded and almost\ndestroyed my moral sense, as she was bound to confound all who looked\nupon her superhuman loveliness. But--I do not quite know how--I got the\nbetter of myself, and once more turned to see the climax of the tragedy.\n\n\"Oh, great Heaven!\" gasped Leo, \"art thou a woman?\"\n\n\"A woman in truth--in very truth--and thine own spouse, Kallikrates!\"\nshe answered, stretching out her rounded ivory arms towards him, and\nsmiling, ah, so sweetly!\n\nHe looked and looked, and slowly I perceived that he was drawing nearer\nto her. Suddenly his eye fell upon the corpse of poor Ustane, and he\nshuddered and stopped.\n\n\"How can I?\" he said hoarsely. \"Thou art a murderess; she loved me.\"\n\nObserve, he was already forgetting that he had loved her.\n\n\"It is naught,\" she murmured, and her voice sounded sweet as the\nnight-wind passing through the trees. \"It is naught at all. If I have\nsinned, let my beauty answer for my sin. If I have sinned, it is for\nlove of thee: let my sin, therefore, be put away and forgotten;\" and\nonce more she stretched out her arms and whispered \"_Come_,\" and then in\nanother few seconds it was all over.\n\nI saw him struggle--I saw him even turn to fly; but her eyes drew\nhim more strongly than iron bonds, and the magic of her beauty and\nconcentrated will and passion entered into him and overpowered him--ay,\neven there, in the presence of the body of the woman who had loved him\nwell enough to die for him. It sounds horrible and wicked enough, but he\nshould not be too greatly blamed, and be sure his sin will find him out.\nThe temptress who drew him into evil was more than human, and her beauty\nwas greater than the loveliness of the daughters of men.\n\nI looked up again and now her perfect form lay in his arms, and her lips\nwere pressed against his own; and thus, with the corpse of his dead\nlove for an altar, did Leo Vincey plight his troth to her red-handed\nmurderess--plight it for ever and a day. For those who sell themselves\ninto a like dominion, paying down the price of their own honour, and\nthrowing their soul into the balance to sink the scale to the level of\ntheir lusts, can hope for no deliverance here or hereafter. As they\nhave sown, so shall they reap and reap, even when the poppy flowers of\npassion have withered in their hands, and their harvest is but bitter\ntares, garnered in satiety.\n\nSuddenly, with a snake-like motion, she seemed to slip from his embrace,\nand then again broke out into her low laugh of triumphant mockery.\n\n\"Did I not tell thee that within a little space thou wouldst creep to my\nknee, oh Kallikrates? And surely the space has not been a great one!\"\n\nLeo groaned in shame and misery; for though he was overcome and\nstricken down, he was not so lost as to be unaware of the depth of the\ndegradation to which he had sunk. On the contrary, his better nature\nrose up in arms against his fallen self, as I saw clearly enough later\non.\n\nAyesha laughed again, and then quickly veiled herself, and made a sign\nto the girl mute, who had been watching the whole scene with curious\nstartled eyes. The girl left, and presently returned, followed by two\nmale mutes, to whom the Queen made another sign. Thereon they all three\nseized the body of poor Ustane by the arms, and dragged it heavily down\nthe cavern and away through the curtains at the end. Leo watched it for\na little while, and then covered his eyes with his hand, and it too, to\nmy excited fancy, seemed to watch us as it went.\n\n\"There passes the dead past,\" said Ayesha, solemnly, as the curtains\nshook and fell back into their places, when the ghastly procession\nhad vanished behind them. And then, with one of those extraordinary\ntransitions of which I have already spoken, she again threw off her\nveil, and broke out, after the ancient and poetic fashion of the\ndwellers in Arabia,[*] into a pæan of triumph or epithalamium, which,\nwild and beautiful as it was, is exceedingly difficult to render into\nEnglish, and ought by rights to be sung to the music of a cantata,\nrather than written and read. It was divided into two parts--one\ndescriptive or definitive, and the other personal; and, as nearly as I\ncan remember, ran as follows:--\n\nLove is like a flower in the desert.\n\nIt is like the aloe of Arabia that blooms but once and dies; it blooms\nin the salt emptiness of Life, and the brightness of its beauty is set\nupon the waste as a star is set upon a storm.\n\nIt hath the sun above that is the Spirit, and above it blows the air of\nits divinity.\n\nAt the echoing of a step, Love blooms, I say; I say Love blooms, and\nbends her beauty down to him who passeth by.\n\nHe plucketh it, yea, he plucketh the red cup that is full of honey,\nand beareth it away; away across the desert, away till the flower be\nwithered, away till the desert be done.\n\nThere is only one perfect flower in the wilderness of Life.\n\nThat flower is Love!\n\nThere is only one fixed star in the midsts of our wandering.\n\nThat star is Love!\n\nThere is only one hope in our despairing night.\n\nThat hope is Love!\n\nAll else is false. All else is shadow moving upon water. All else is\nwind and vanity.\n\nWho shall say what is the weight or the measure of Love?\n\nIt is born of the flesh, it dwelleth in the spirit. From each doth it\ndraw its comfort.\n\nFor beauty it is as a star.\n\nMany are its shapes, but all are beautiful, and none know where the star\nrose, or the horizon where it shall set.\n\n     [*] Among the ancient Arabians the power of poetic\n     declamation, either in verse or prose, was held in the\n     highest honour and esteem, and he who excelled in it was\n     known as \"Khâteb,\" or Orator. Every year a general assembly\n     was held at which the rival poets repeated their\n     compositions, when those poems which were judged to be the\n     best were, so soon as the knowledge and the art of writing\n     became general, inscribed on silk in letters of gold, and\n     publicly exhibited, being known as \"Al Modhahabât,\" or\n     golden verses. In the poem given above by Mr. Holly, Ayesha\n     evidently followed the traditional poetic manner of her\n     people, which was to embody their thoughts in a series of\n     somewhat disconnected sentences, each remarkable for its\n     beauty and the grace of its expression. --Editor.\n\nThen, turning to Leo, and laying her hand upon his shoulder, she went\non in a fuller and more triumphant tone, speaking in balanced sentences\nthat gradually grew and swelled from idealised prose into pure and\nmajestic verse:--\n\nLong have I loved thee, oh, my love; yet has my love not lessened.\n\nLong have I waited for thee, and behold my reward is at hand--is here!\n\nFar away I saw thee once, and thou wast taken from me.\n\nThen in a grave sowed I the seed of patience, and shone upon it with the\nsun of hope, and watered it with tears of repentance, and breathed on\nit with the breath of my knowledge. And now, lo! it hath sprung up, and\nborne fruit. Lo! out of the grave hath it sprung. Yea, from among the\ndry bones and ashes of the dead.\n\nI have waited and my reward is with me.\n\nI have overcome Death, and Death brought back to me him that was dead.\n\nTherefore do I rejoice, for fair is the future.\n\nGreen are the paths that we shall tread across the everlasting meadows.\n\nThe hour is at hand. Night hath fled away into the valleys.\n\nThe dawn kisseth the mountain tops.\n\nSoft shall we live, my love, and easy shall we go.\n\nCrowned shall we be with the diadem of Kings.\n\nWorshipping and wonder struck all peoples of the world, Blinded shall\nfall before our beauty and might.\n\nFrom time unto times shall our greatness thunder on, Rolling like a\nchariot through the dust of endless days.\n\nLaughing shall we speed in our victory and pomp, Laughing like the\nDaylight as he leaps along the hills.\n\nOnward, still triumphant to a triumph ever new!\n\nOnward, in our power to a power unattained!\n\nOnward, never weary, clad with splendour for a robe!\n\nTill accomplished be our fate, and the night is rushing down.\n\nShe paused in her strange and most thrilling allegorical chant, of\nwhich I am, unfortunately, only able to give the burden, and that feebly\nenough, and then said--\n\n\"Perchance thou dost not believe my word, Kallikrates--perchance thou\nthinkest that I do delude thee, and that I have not lived these many\nyears, and that thou hast not been born again to me. Nay, look not\nso--put away that pale cast of doubt, for oh be sure herein can error\nfind no foothold! Sooner shall the suns forget their course and the\nswallow miss her nest, than my soul shall swear a lie and be led astray\nfrom thee, Kallikrates. Blind me, take away mine eyes, and let the\ndarkness utterly fence me in, and still mine ears would catch the tone\nof thy unforgotten voice, striking more loud against the portals of\nmy sense than can the call of brazen-throated clarions:--stop up mine\nhearing also, and let a thousand touch me on the brow, and I would name\nthee out of all:--yea, rob me of every sense, and see me stand deaf and\nblind, and dumb, and with nerves that cannot weigh the value of a touch,\nyet would my spirit leap within me like a quickening child and cry unto\nmy heart, behold Kallikrates! behold, thou watcher, the watches of\nthy night are ended! behold thou who seekest in the night season, thy\nmorning Star ariseth.\"\n\nShe paused awhile and then continued, \"But stay, if thy heart is yet\nhardened against the mighty truth and thou dost require a further pledge\nof that which thou dost find too deep to understand, even now shall it\nbe given to thee, and to thee also, oh my Holly. Bear each one of you a\nlamp, and follow after me whither I shall lead you.\"\n\nWithout stopping to think--indeed, speaking for myself, I had almost\nabandoned the function in circumstances under which to think seemed\nto be absolutely useless, since thought fell hourly helpless against a\nblack wall of wonder--we took the lamps and followed her. Going to the\nend of her \"boudoir,\" she raised a curtain and revealed a little stair\nof the sort that is so common in these dim caves of Kôr. As we hurried\ndown the stair I observed that the steps were worn in the centre to\nsuch an extent that some of them had been reduced from seven and a half\ninches, at which I guessed their original height, to about three and\na half. Now, all the other steps that I had seen in the caves were\npractically unworn, as was to be expected, seeing that the only traffic\nwhich ever passed upon them was that of those who bore a fresh burden to\nthe tomb. Therefore this fact struck my notice with that curious force\nwith which little things do strike us when our minds are absolutely\noverwhelmed by a sudden rush of powerful sensations; beaten flat, as it\nwere, like a sea beneath the first burst of a hurricane, so that every\nlittle object on the surface starts into an unnatural prominence.\n\nAt the bottom of the staircase I stood and stared at the worn steps, and\nAyesha, turning, saw me.\n\n\"Wonderest thou whose are the feet that have worn away the rock, my\nHolly?\" she asked. \"They are mine--even mine own light feet! I can\nremember when those stairs were fresh and level, but for two thousand\nyears and more have I gone down hither day by day, and see, my sandals\nhave worn out the solid rock!\"\n\nI made no answer, but I do not think that anything that I had heard or\nseen brought home to my limited understanding so clear a sense of this\nbeing's overwhelming antiquity as that hard rock hollowed out by her\nsoft white feet. How many hundreds of thousands of times must she have\npassed up and down that stair to bring about such a result?\n\nThe stair led to a tunnel, and a few paces down the tunnel was one of\nthe usual curtain-hung doorways, a glance at which told me that it\nwas the same where I had been a witness of that terrible scene by the\nleaping flame. I recognised the pattern of the curtain, and the sight of\nit brought the whole event vividly before my eyes, and made me tremble\neven at its memory. Ayesha entered the tomb (for it was a tomb), and we\nfollowed her--I, for one, rejoicing that the mystery of the place was\nabout to be cleared up, and yet afraid to face its solution.\n\n\n\nXXI\n\nTHE DEAD AND LIVING MEET\n\n\"See now the place where I have slept for these two thousand years,\"\nsaid Ayesha, taking the lamp from Leo's hand and holding it above her\nhead. Its rays fell upon a little hollow in the floor, where I had seen\nthe leaping flame, but the fire was out now. They fell upon the white\nform stretched there beneath its wrappings upon its bed of stone,\nupon the fretted carving of the tomb, and upon another shelf of stone\nopposite the one on which the body lay, and separated from it by the\nbreadth of the cave.\n\n\"Here,\" went on Ayesha, laying her hand upon the rock--\"here have I\nslept night by night for all these generations, with but a cloak to\ncover me. It did not become me that I should lie soft when my spouse\nyonder,\" and she pointed to the rigid form, \"lay stiff in death. Here\nnight by night have I slept in his cold company--till, thou seest, this\nthick slab, like the stairs down which we passed, has worn thin with the\ntossing of my form--so faithful have I been to thee even in thy space\nof sleep, Kallikrates. And now, mine own, thou shalt see a wonderful\nthing--living, thou shalt behold thyself dead--for well have I tended\nthee during all these years, Kallikrates. Art thou prepared?\"\n\nWe made no answer, but gazed at each other with frightened eyes, the\nwhole scene was so dreadful and so solemn. Ayesha advanced, and laid her\nhand upon the corner of the shroud, and once more spoke.\n\n\"Be not affrighted,\" she said; \"though the thing seem wonderful to\nthee--all we who live have thus lived before; nor is the very shape\nthat holds us a stranger to the sun! Only we know it not, because memory\nwrites no record, and earth hath gathered in the earth she lent us, for\nnone have saved our glory from the grave. But I, by my arts and by the\narts of those dead men of Kôr which I have learned, have held thee\nback, oh Kallikrates, from the dust, that the waxen stamp of beauty\non thy face should ever rest before mine eye. 'Twas a mask that memory\nmight fill, serving to fashion out thy presence from the past, and\ngive it strength to wander in the habitations of my thought, clad in a\nmummery of life that stayed my appetite with visions of dead days.\n\n\"Behold now, let the Dead and Living meet! Across the gulf of Time they\nstill are one. Time hath no power against Identity, though sleep the\nmerciful hath blotted out the tablets of our mind, and with oblivion\nsealed the sorrows that else would hound us from life to life, stuffing\nthe brain with gathered griefs till it burst in the madness of uttermost\ndespair. Still are they one, for the wrappings of our sleep shall roll\naway as thunder-clouds before the wind; the frozen voice of the past\nshall melt in music like mountain snows beneath the sun; and the weeping\nand the laughter of the lost hours shall be heard once more most sweetly\nechoing up the cliffs of immeasurable time.\n\n\"Ay, the sleep shall roll away, and the voices shall be heard, when down\nthe completed chain, whereof our each existence is a link, the lightning\nof the Spirit hath passed to work out the purpose of our being;\nquickening and fusing those separated days of life, and shaping them to\na staff whereon we may safely lean as we wend to our appointed fate.\n\n\"Therefore, have no fear, Kallikrates, when thou--living, and but lately\nborn--shalt look upon thine own departed self, who breathed and died\nso long ago. I do but turn one page in thy Book of Being, and show thee\nwhat is writ thereon.\n\n\"_Behold!_\"\n\nWith a sudden motion she drew the shroud from the cold form, and let the\nlamplight play upon it. I looked, and then shrank back terrified; since,\nsay what she might in explanation, the sight was an uncanny one--for her\nexplanations were beyond the grasp of our finite minds, and when they\nwere stripped from the mists of vague esoteric philosophy, and brought\ninto conflict with the cold and horrifying fact, did not do much to\nbreak its force. For there, stretched upon the stone bier before us,\nrobed in white and perfectly preserved, was what appeared to be the body\nof Leo Vincey. I stared from Leo, standing _there_ alive, to Leo lying\n_there_ dead, and could see no difference; except, perhaps, that the\nbody on the bier looked older. Feature for feature they were the same,\neven down to the crop of little golden curls, which was Leo's most\nuncommon beauty. It even seemed to me, as I looked, that the expression\non the dead man's face resembled that which I had sometimes seen upon\nLeo's when he was plunged into profound sleep. I can only sum up the\ncloseness of the resemblance by saying that I never saw twins so exactly\nsimilar as that dead and living pair.\n\nI turned to see what effect was produced upon Leo by the sight of his\ndead self, and found it to be one of partial stupefaction. He stood\nfor two or three minutes staring, and said nothing, and when at last he\nspoke it was only to ejaculate--\n\n\"Cover it up, and take me away.\"\n\n\"Nay, wait, Kallikrates,\" said Ayesha, who, standing with the lamp\nraised above her head, flooding with its light her own rich beauty and\nthe cold wonder of the death-clothed form upon the bier, resembled\nan inspired Sibyl rather than a woman, as she rolled out her majestic\nsentences with a grandeur and a freedom of utterance which I am, alas!\nquite unable to reproduce.\n\n\"Wait, I would show thee something, that no tittle of my crime may be\nhidden from thee. Do thou, oh Holly, open the garment on the breast\nof the dead Kallikrates, for perchance my lord may fear to touch it\nhimself.\"\n\nI obeyed with trembling hands. It seemed a desecration and an unhallowed\nthing to touch that sleeping image of the live man by my side. Presently\nhis broad chest was bare, and there upon it, right over the heart, was a\nwound, evidently inflicted with a spear.\n\n\"Thou seest, Kallikrates,\" she said. \"Know then that it was _I_ who slew\nthee: in the Place of Life _I_ gave thee death. I slew thee because of\nthe Egyptian Amenartas, whom thou didst love, for by her wiles she held\nthy heart, and her I could not smite as but now I smote that woman, for\nshe was too strong for me. In my haste and bitter anger I slew thee, and\nnow for all these days have I lamented thee, and waited for thy coming.\nAnd thou hast come, and none can stand between thee and me, and of a\ntruth now for death I will give thee life--not life eternal, for that\nnone can give, but life and youth that shall endure for thousands upon\nthousands of years, and with it pomp, and power, and wealth, and all\nthings that are good and beautiful, such as have been to no man before\nthee, nor shall be to any man who comes after. And now one thing more,\nand thou shalt rest and make ready for the day of thy new birth. Thou\nseest this body, which was thine own. For all these centuries it hath\nbeen my cold comfort and my companion, but now I need it no more, for\nI have thy living presence, and it can but serve to stir up memories\nof that which I would fain forget. Let it therefore go back to the dust\nfrom which I held it.\n\n\"Behold! I have prepared against this happy hour!\" And going to the\nother shelf or stone ledge, which she said had served her for a bed, she\ntook from it a large vitrified double-handed vase, the mouth of which\nwas tied up with a bladder. This she loosed, and then, having bent down\nand gently kissed the white forehead of the dead man, she undid the\nvase, and sprinkled its contents carefully over the form, taking, I\nobserved, the greatest precautions against any drop of them touching\nus or herself, and then poured out what remained of the liquid upon the\nchest and head. Instantly a dense vapour arose, and the cave was filled\nwith choking fumes that prevented us from seeing anything while the\ndeadly acid (for I presume it was some tremendous preparation of that\nsort) did its work. From the spot where the body lay came a fierce\nfizzing and cracking sound, which ceased, however, before the fumes had\ncleared away. At last they were all gone, except a little cloud that\nstill hung over the corpse. In a couple of minutes more this too had\nvanished, and, wonderful as it may seem, it is a fact that on the stone\nbench that had supported the mortal remains of the ancient Kallikrates\nfor so many centuries there was now nothing to be seen but a few\nhandfuls of smoking white powder. The acid had utterly destroyed the\nbody, and even in places eaten into the stone. Ayesha stooped down, and,\ntaking a handful of this powder in her grasp, threw it into the air,\nsaying at the same time, in a voice of calm solemnity--\n\n\"Dust to dust!--the past to the past!--the dead to the\ndead!--Kallikrates is dead, and is born again!\"\n\nThe ashes floated noiselessly to the rocky floor, and we stood in awed\nsilence and watched them fall, too overcome for words.\n\n\"Now leave me,\" she said, \"and sleep if ye may. I must watch and think,\nfor to-morrow night we go hence, and the time is long since I trod the\npath that we must follow.\"\n\nAccordingly we bowed, and left her.\n\nAs we passed to our own apartment I peeped into Job's sleeping place,\nto see how he fared, for he had gone away just before our interview with\nthe murdered Ustane, quite prostrated by the terrors of the Amahagger\nfestivity. He was sleeping soundly, good honest fellow that he was,\nand I rejoiced to think that his nerves, which, like those of most\nuneducated people, were far from strong, had been spared the closing\nscenes of this dreadful day. Then we entered our own chamber, and here\nat last poor Leo, who, ever since he had looked upon that frozen\nimage of his living self, had been in a state not far removed from\nstupefaction, burst out into a torrent of grief. Now that he was no\nlonger in the presence of the dread _She_, his sense of the awfulness\nof all that had happened, and more especially of the wicked murder of\nUstane, who was bound to him by ties so close, broke upon him like a\nstorm, and lashed him into an agony of remorse and terror which was\npainful to witness. He cursed himself--he cursed the hour when we had\nfirst seen the writing on the sherd, which was being so mysteriously\nverified, and bitterly he cursed his own weakness. Ayesha he dared not\ncurse--who dared speak evil of such a woman, whose consciousness, for\naught we knew, was watching us at the very moment?\n\n\"What am I to do, old fellow?\" he groaned, resting his head against my\nshoulder in the extremity of his grief. \"I let her be killed--not that\nI could help that, but within five minutes I was kissing her murderess\nover her body. I am a degraded brute, but I cannot resist that\" (and\nhere his voice sank)--\"that awful sorceress. I know I shall do it again\nto-morrow; I know that I am in her power for always; if I never saw her\nagain I should never think of anybody else during all my life; I must\nfollow her as a needle follows a magnet; I would not go away now if I\ncould; I could not leave her, my legs would not carry me, but my mind is\nstill clear enough, and in my mind I hate her--at least, I think so. It\nis all so horrible; and that--that body! What can I make of it? It was\n_I_! I am sold into bondage, old fellow, and she will take my soul as\nthe price of herself!\"\n\nThen, for the first time, I told him that I was in a but very little\nbetter position; and I am bound to say that, notwithstanding his own\ninfatuation, he had the decency to sympathise with me. Perhaps he did\nnot think it worth while being jealous, realising that he had no cause\nso far as the lady was concerned. I went on to suggest that we should\ntry to run away, but we soon rejected the project as futile, and, to be\nperfectly honest, I do not believe that either of us would really have\nleft Ayesha even if some superior power had suddenly offered to convey\nus from these gloomy caves and set us down in Cambridge. We could no\nmore have left her than a moth can leave the light that destroys it. We\nwere like confirmed opium-eaters: in our moments of reason we well knew\nthe deadly nature of our pursuit, but we certainly were not prepared to\nabandon its terrible delights.\n\nNo man who once had seen _She_ unveiled, and heard the music of her\nvoice, and drunk in the bitter wisdom of her words, would willingly give\nup the sight for a whole sea of placid joys. How much more, then, was\nthis likely to be so when, as in Leo's case, to put myself out of the\nquestion, this extraordinary creature declared her utter and absolute\ndevotion, and gave what appeared to be proofs of its having lasted for\nsome two thousand years?\n\nNo doubt she was a wicked person, and no doubt she had murdered Ustane\nwhen she stood in her path, but then she was very faithful, and by a\nlaw of nature man is apt to think but lightly of a woman's crimes,\nespecially if that woman be beautiful, and the crime be committed for\nthe love of him.\n\nAnd then, for the rest, when had such a chance ever come to a man before\nas that which now lay in Leo's hand? True, in uniting himself to this\ndread woman, he would place his life under the influence of a mysterious\ncreature of evil tendencies,[*] but then that would be likely enough to\nhappen to him in any ordinary marriage. On the other hand, however, no\nordinary marriage could bring him such awful beauty--for awful is the\nonly word that can describe it--such divine devotion, such wisdom, and\ncommand over the secrets of nature, and the place and power that they\nmust win, or, lastly, the royal crown of unending youth, if indeed she\ncould give that. No, on the whole, it is not wonderful that, though Leo\nwas plunged in bitter shame and grief, such as any gentleman would have\nfelt under the circumstances, he was not ready to entertain the idea of\nrunning away from his extraordinary fortune.\n\n     [*] After some months of consideration of this statement I\n     am bound to confess that I am not quite satisfied of its\n     truth. It is perfectly true that Ayesha committed a murder,\n     but I shrewdly suspect that, were we endowed with the same\n     absolute power, and if we had the same tremendous interest\n     at stake, we would be very apt to do likewise under parallel\n     circumstances. Also, it must be remembered that she looked\n     on it as an execution for disobedience under a system which\n     made the slightest disobedience punishable by death. Putting\n     aside this question of the murder, her evil-doing resolves\n     itself into the expression of views and the acknowledgment\n     of motives which are contrary to our preaching if not to our\n     practice. Now at first sight this might be fairly taken as a\n     proof of an evil nature, but when we come to consider the\n     great antiquity of the individual it becomes doubtful if it\n     was anything more than the natural cynicism which arises\n     from age and bitter experience, and the possession of\n     extraordinary powers of observation. It is a well known fact\n     that very often, putting the period of boyhood out of the\n     question, the older we grow the more cynical and hardened we\n     get; indeed many of us are only saved by timely death from\n     utter moral petrifaction if not moral corruption. No one\n     will deny that a young man is on the average better than an\n     old one, for he is without that experience of the order of\n     things that in certain thoughtful dispositions can hardly\n     fail to produce cynicism, and that disregard of acknowledged\n     methods and established custom which we call evil. Now the\n     oldest man upon the earth was but a babe compared to Ayesha,\n     and the wisest man upon the earth was not one-third as wise.\n     And the fruit of her wisdom was this, that there was but one\n     thing worth living for, and that was Love in its highest\n     sense, and to gain that good thing she was not prepared to\n     stop at trifles. This is really the sum of her evil doings,\n     and it must be remembered, on the other hand, that, whatever\n     may be thought of them, she had some virtues developed to a\n     degree very uncommon in either sex--constancy, for\n     instance.--L. H. H.\n\nMy own opinion is that he would have been mad if he had done so. But\nthen I confess that my statement on the matter must be accepted with\nqualifications. I am in love with Ayesha myself to this day, and I would\nrather have been the object of her affection for one short week than\nthat of any other woman in the world for a whole lifetime. And let me\nadd that, if anybody who doubts this statement, and thinks me foolish\nfor making it, could have seen Ayesha draw her veil and flash out in\nbeauty on his gaze, his view would exactly coincide with my own. Of\ncourse, I am speaking of any _man_. We never had the advantage of a\nlady's opinion of Ayesha, but I think it quite possible that she\nwould have regarded the Queen with dislike, would have expressed her\ndisapproval in some more or less pointed manner, and ultimately have got\nherself blasted.\n\nFor two hours or more Leo and I sat with shaken nerves and frightened\neyes, and talked over the miraculous events through which we were\npassing. It seemed like a dream or a fairy tale, instead of the solemn,\nsober fact. Who would have believed that the writing on the potsherd was\nnot only true, but that we should live to verify its truth, and that\nwe two seekers should find her who was sought, patiently awaiting our\ncoming in the tombs of Kôr? Who would have thought that in the person\nof Leo this mysterious woman should, as she believed, discover the\nbeing whom she awaited from century to century, and whose former earthly\nhabitation she had till this very night preserved? But so it was. In the\nface of all we had seen it was difficult for us as ordinary reasoning\nmen any longer to doubt its truth, and therefore at last, with humble\nhearts and a deep sense of the impotence of human knowledge, and the\ninsolence of its assumption that denies that to be possible which it has\nno experience of, we laid ourselves down to sleep, leaving our fates in\nthe hands of that watching Providence which had thus chosen to allow us\nto draw the veil of human ignorance, and reveal to us for good or evil\nsome glimpse of the possibilities of life.\n\n\n\nXXII\n\nJOB HAS A PRESENTIMENT\n\nIt was nine o'clock on the following morning when Job, who still looked\nscared and frightened, came in to call me, and at the same time breathe\nhis gratitude at finding us alive in our beds, which it appeared was\nmore than he had expected. When I told him of the awful end of poor\nUstane he was even more grateful at our survival, and much shocked,\nthough Ustane had been no favourite of his, or he of hers, for the\nmatter of that. She called him \"pig\" in bastard Arabic, and he called\nher \"hussy\" in good English, but these amenities were forgotten in the\nface of the catastrophe that had overwhelmed her at the hands of her\nQueen.\n\n\"I don't want to say anything as mayn't be agreeable, sir,\" said Job,\nwhen he had finished exclaiming at my tale, \"but it's my opinion that\nthat there _She_ is the old gentleman himself, or perhaps his wife, if\nhe has one, which I suppose he has, for he couldn't be so wicked all by\nhimself. The Witch of Endor was a fool to her, sir: bless you, she would\nmake no more of raising every gentleman in the Bible out of these here\nbeastly tombs than I should of growing cress on an old flannel. It's a\ncountry of devils, this is, sir, and she's the master one of the lot;\nand if ever we get out of it it will be more than I expect to do. I\ndon't see no way out of it. That witch isn't likely to let a fine young\nman like Mr. Leo go.\"\n\n\"Come,\" I said, \"at any rate she saved his life.\"\n\n\"Yes, and she'll take his soul to pay for it. She'll make him a witch,\nlike herself. I say it's wicked to have anything to do with those sort\nof people. Last night, sir, I lay awake and read in my little Bible that\nmy poor old mother gave me about what is going to happen to sorceresses\nand them sort, till my hair stood on end. Lord, how the old lady would\nstare if she saw where her Job had got to!\"\n\n\"Yes, it's a queer country, and a queer people too, Job,\" I answered,\nwith a sigh, for, though I am not superstitious like Job, I admit to a\nnatural shrinking (which will not bear investigation) from the things\nthat are above Nature.\n\n\"You are right, sir,\" he answered, \"and if you won't think me very\nfoolish, I should like to say something to you now that Mr. Leo is out\nof the way\"--(Leo had got up early and gone for a stroll)--\"and that is\nthat I know it is the last country as ever I shall see in this world.\nI had a dream last night, and I dreamed that I saw my old father with\na kind of night-shirt on him, something like these folks wear when they\nwant to be in particular full-dress, and a bit of that feathery grass\nin his hand, which he may have gathered on the way, for I saw lots of it\nyesterday about three hundred yards from the mouth of this beastly cave.\n\n\"'Job,' he said to me, solemn like, and yet with a kind of satisfaction\nshining through him, more like a Methody parson when he has sold a\nneighbour a marked horse for a sound one and cleared twenty pounds by\nthe job than anything I can think on--'Job, time's up, Job; but I never\ndid expect to have to come and hunt you out in this 'ere place, Job.\nSuch ado as I have had to nose you up; it wasn't friendly to give\nyour poor old father such a run, let alone that a wonderful lot of bad\ncharacters hail from this place Kôr.'\"\n\n\"Regular cautions,\" I suggested.\n\n\"Yes, sir--of course, sir, that's just what he said they was--'cautions,\ndownright scorchers'--sir, and I'm sure I don't doubt it, seeing what I\nknow of them, and their hot-potting ways,\" went on Job sadly. \"Anyway,\nhe was sure that time was up, and went away saying that we should\nsee more than we cared for of each other soon, and I suppose he was\na-thinking of the fact that father and I never could hit it off together\nfor longer nor three days, and I daresay that things will be similar\nwhen we meet again.\"\n\n\"Surely,\" I said, \"you don't think that you are going to die because you\ndreamed you saw your old father; if one dies because one dreams of one's\nfather, what happens to a man who dreams of his mother-in-law?\"\n\n\"Ah, sir, you're laughing at me,\" said Job; \"but, you see, you didn't\nknow my old father. If it had been anybody else--my Aunt Mary, for\ninstance, who never made much of a job--I should not have thought so\nmuch of it; but my father was that idle, which he shouldn't have been\nwith seventeen children, that he would never have put himself out to\ncome here just to see the place. No, sir; I know that he meant business.\nWell, sir, I can't help it; I suppose every man must go some time or\nother, though it is a hard thing to die in a place like this, where\nChristian burial isn't to be had for its weight in gold. I've tried\nto be a good man, sir, and do my duty honest, and if it wasn't for the\nsupercilus kind of way in which father carried on last night--a sort\nof sniffing at me as it were, as though he hadn't no opinion of my\nreferences and testimonials--I should feel easy enough in my mind. Any\nway, sir, I've been a good servant to you and Mr. Leo, bless him!--why,\nit seems but the other day that I used to lead him about the streets\nwith a penny whip;--and if ever you get out of this place--which, as\nfather didn't allude to you, perhaps you may--I hope you will think\nkindly of my whitened bones, and never have anything more to do with\nGreek writing on flower-pots, sir, if I may make so bold as to say so.\"\n\n\"Come, come, Job,\" I said seriously, \"this is all nonsense, you know.\nYou mustn't be silly enough to go getting such ideas into your head.\nWe've lived through some queer things, and I hope that we may go on\ndoing so.\"\n\n\"No, sir,\" answered Job, in a tone of conviction that jarred on me\nunpleasantly, \"it isn't nonsense. I'm a doomed man, and I feel it, and a\nwonderful uncomfortable feeling it is, sir, for one can't help wondering\nhow it's going to come about. If you are eating your dinner you think\nof poison and it goes against your stomach, and if you are walking along\nthese dark rabbit-burrows you think of knives, and Lord, don't you just\nshiver about the back! I ain't particular, sir, provided it's sharp,\nlike that poor girl, who, now that she's gone, I am sorry to have spoke\nhard on, though I don't approve of her morals in getting married, which\nI consider too quick to be decent. Still, sir,\" and poor Job turned a\nshade paler as he said it, \"I do hope it won't be that hot-pot game.\"\n\n\"Nonsense,\" I broke in angrily, \"nonsense!\"\n\n\"Very well, sir,\" said Job, \"it isn't my place to differ from you, sir,\nbut if you happen to be going anywhere, sir, I should be obliged if you\ncould manage to take me with you, seeing that I shall be glad to have a\nfriendly face to look at when the time comes, just to help one through,\nas it were. And now, sir, I'll be getting the breakfast,\" and he went,\nleaving me in a very uncomfortable state of mind. I was deeply attached\nto old Job, who was one of the best and honestest men I have ever had\nto do with in any class of life, and really more of a friend than a\nservant, and the mere idea of anything happening to him brought a lump\ninto my throat. Beneath all his ludicrous talk I could see that he\nhimself was quite convinced that something was going to happen,\nand though in most cases these convictions turn out to be utter\nmoonshine--and this particular one especially was to be amply accounted\nfor by the gloomy and unaccustomed surroundings in which its victim\nwas placed--still it did more or less carry a chill to my heart, as any\ndread that is obviously a genuine object of belief is apt to do, however\nabsurd the belief may be. Presently the breakfast arrived, and with it\nLeo, who had been taking a walk outside the cave--to clear his mind, he\nsaid--and very glad I was to see both, for they gave me a respite\nfrom my gloomy thoughts. After breakfast we went for another walk, and\nwatched some of the Amahagger sowing a plot of ground with the grain\nfrom which they make their beer. This they did in scriptural fashion--a\nman with a bag made of goat's hide fastened round his waist walking up\nand down the plot and scattering the seed as he went. It was a positive\nrelief to see one of these dreadful people do anything so homely and\npleasant as sow a field, perhaps because it seemed to link them, as it\nwere, with the rest of humanity.\n\nAs we were returning Billali met us, and informed us that it was _She's_\npleasure that we should wait upon her, and accordingly we entered her\npresence, not without trepidation, for Ayesha was certainly an exception\nto the rule. Familiarity with her might and did breed passion and wonder\nand horror, but it certainly did _not_ breed contempt.\n\nWe were as usual shown in by the mutes, and after these had\nretired Ayesha unveiled, and once more bade Leo embrace her, which,\nnotwithstanding his heart-searchings of the previous night, he did with\nmore alacrity and fervour than in strictness courtesy required.\n\nShe laid her white hand on his head, and looked him fondly in the eyes.\n\"Dost thou wonder, my Kallikrates,\" she said, \"when thou shalt call me\nall thine own, and when we shall of a truth be for one another and to\none another? I will tell thee. First, must thou be even as I am, not\nimmortal indeed, for that I am not, but so cased and hardened against\nthe attacks of Time that his arrows shall glance from the armour of thy\nvigorous life as the sunbeams glance from water. As yet I may not mate\nwith thee, for thou and I are different, and the very brightness of my\nbeing would burn thee up, and perchance destroy thee. Thou couldst not\neven endure to look upon me for too long a time lest thine eyes should\nache, and thy senses swim, and therefore\" (with a little nod) \"shall\nI presently veil myself again.\" (This by the way she did not do.) \"No:\nlisten, thou shalt not be tried beyond endurance, for this very\nevening, an hour before the sun goes down, shall we start hence, and\nby to-morrow's dark, if all goes well, and the road is not lost to me,\nwhich I pray it may not be, shall we stand in the place of Life, and\nthou shalt bathe in the fire, and come forth glorified, as no man ever\nwas before thee, and then, Kallikrates, shalt thou call me wife, and I\nwill call thee husband.\"\n\nLeo muttered something in answer to this astonishing statement, I do not\nknow what, and she laughed a little at his confusion, and went on.\n\n\"And thou, too, oh Holly; on thee also will I confer this boon, and then\nof a truth shalt thou be evergreen, and this will I do--well, because\nthou hast pleased me, Holly, for thou art not altogether a fool, like\nmost of the sons of men, and because, though thou hast a school of\nphilosophy as full of nonsense as those of the old days, yet hast thou\nnot forgotten how to turn a pretty phrase about a lady's eyes.\"\n\n\"Hulloa, old fellow!\" whispered Leo, with a return of his old\ncheerfulness, \"have you been paying compliments? I should never have\nthought it of you!\"\n\n\"I thank thee, oh Ayesha,\" I replied, with as much dignity as I could\ncommand, \"but if there be such a place as thou dost describe, and if in\nthis strange place there may be found a fiery virtue that can hold off\nDeath when he comes to pluck us by the hand, yet would I none of it. For\nme, oh Ayesha, the world has not proved so soft a nest that I would lie\nin it for ever. A stony-hearted mother is our earth, and stones are the\nbread she gives her children for their daily food. Stones to eat and\nbitter water for their thirst, and stripes for tender nurture. Who would\nendure this for many lives? Who would so load up his back with memories\nof lost hours and loves, and of his neighbour's sorrows that he cannot\nlessen, and wisdom that brings not consolation? Hard is it to die,\nbecause our delicate flesh doth shrink back from the worm it will not\nfeel, and from that unknown which the winding-sheet doth curtain from\nour view. But harder still, to my fancy, would it be to live on, green\nin the leaf and fair, but dead and rotten at the core, and feel that\nother secret worm of recollection gnawing ever at the heart.\"\n\n\"Bethink thee, Holly,\" she said; \"yet doth long life and strength and\nbeauty beyond measure mean power and all things that are dear to man.\"\n\n\"And what, oh Queen,\" I answered, \"are those things that are dear to\nman? Are they not bubbles? Is not ambition but an endless ladder by\nwhich no height is ever climbed till the last unreachable rung is\nmounted? For height leads on to height, and there is no resting-place\nupon them, and rung doth grow upon rung, and there is no limit to the\nnumber. Doth not wealth satiate, and become nauseous, and no longer\nserve to satisfy or pleasure, or to buy an hour's peace of mind? And is\nthere any end to wisdom that we may hope to reach it? Rather, the more\nwe learn, shall we not thereby be able only to better compass out our\nignorance? Did we live ten thousand years could we hope to solve the\nsecrets of the suns, and of the space beyond the suns, and of the Hand\nthat hung them in the heavens? Would not our wisdom be but as a gnawing\nhunger calling our consciousness day by day to a knowledge of the empty\ncraving of our souls? Would it not be but as a light in one of these\ngreat caverns, that, though bright it burn, and brighter yet, doth but\nthe more serve to show the depths of the gloom around it? And what good\nthing is there beyond that we may gain by length of days?\"\n\n\"Nay, my Holly, there is love--love which makes all things beautiful,\nand doth breathe divinity into the very dust we tread. With love shall\nlife roll gloriously on from year to year, like the voice of some great\nmusic that hath power to hold the hearer's heart poised on eagles' wings\nabove the sordid shame and folly of the earth.\"\n\n\"It may be so,\" I answered; \"but if the loved one prove a broken reed to\npierce us, or if the love be loved in vain--what then? Shall a man grave\nhis sorrows upon a stone when he hath but need to write them on\nthe water? Nay, oh _She_, I will live my day, and grow old with my\ngeneration, and die my appointed death, and be forgotten. For I do hope\nfor an immortality to which the little span that perchance thou canst\nconfer will be but as a finger's length laid against the measure of the\ngreat world; and, mark this! the immortality to which I look, and which\nmy faith doth promise me, shall be free from the bonds that here must\ntie my spirit down. For, while the flesh endures, sorrow and evil and\nthe scorpion whips of sin must endure also; but when the flesh hath\nfallen from us, then shall the spirit shine forth clad in the brightness\nof eternal good, and for its common air shall breathe so rare an ether\nof most noble thoughts that the highest aspiration of our manhood, or\nthe purest incense of a maiden's prayer, would prove too earthly gross\nto float therein.\"\n\n\n\"Thou lookest high,\" answered Ayesha, with a little laugh, \"and speakest\nclearly as a trumpet and with no uncertain sound. And yet methinks that\nbut now didst thou talk of 'that Unknown' from which the winding-sheet\ndoth curtain us. But perchance, thou seest with the eye of Faith, gazing\non that brightness, that is to be, through the painted-glass of thy\nimagination. Strange are the pictures of the future that mankind can\nthus draw with this brush of faith and this many-coloured pigment of\nimagination! Strange, too, that no one of them doth agree with another!\nI could tell thee--but there, what is the use? why rob a fool of his\nbauble? Let it pass, and I pray, oh Holly, that when thou dost feel old\nage creeping slowly toward thyself, and the confusion of senility making\nhavoc in thy brain, thou mayest not bitterly regret that thou didst cast\naway the imperial boon I would have given to thee. But so it hath ever\nbeen; man can never be content with that which his hand can pluck. If\na lamp be in his reach to light him through the darkness, he must needs\ncast it down because it is no star. Happiness danceth ever apace before\nhim, like the marsh-fires in the swamps, and he must catch the fire, and\nhe must hold the star! Beauty is naught to him, because there are lips\nmore honey-sweet; and wealth is naught, because others can weigh him\ndown with heavier shekels; and fame is naught, because there have\nbeen greater men than he. Thyself thou saidst it, and I turn thy words\nagainst thee. Well, thou dreamest that thou shalt pluck the star. I\nbelieve it not, and I think thee a fool, my Holly, to throw away the\nlamp.\"\n\nI made no answer, for I could not--especially before Leo--tell her that\nsince I had seen her face I knew that it would always be before my eyes,\nand that I had no wish to prolong an existence which must always be\nhaunted and tortured by her memory, and by the last bitterness of\nunsatisfied love. But so it was, and so, alas, is it to this hour!\n\n\"And now,\" went on _She_, changing her tone and the subject together,\n\"tell me, my Kallikrates, for as yet I know it not, how came ye to seek\nme here? Yesternight thou didst say that Kallikrates--him whom thou\nsawest--was thine ancestor. How was it? Tell me--thou dost not speak\novermuch!\"\n\nThus adjured, Leo told her the wonderful story of the casket and of the\npotsherd that, written on by his ancestress, the Egyptian Amenartas, had\nbeen the means of guiding us to her. Ayesha listened intently, and, when\nhe had finished, spoke to me.\n\n\"Did I not tell thee one day, when we did talk of good and evil, oh\nHolly--it was when my beloved lay so ill--that out of good came evil,\nand out of evil good--that they who sowed knew not what the crop\nshould be, nor he who struck where the blow should fall? See, now: this\nEgyptian Amenartas, this royal child of the Nile who hated me, and whom\neven now I hate, for in a way she did prevail against me--see, now, she\nherself hath been the very means to bring her lover to mine arms! For\nher sake I slew him, and now, behold, through her he hath come back to\nme! She would have done me evil, and sowed her seeds that I might reap\ntares, and behold she hath given me more than all the world can give,\nand there is a strange square for thee to fit into thy circle of good\nand evil, oh Holly!\n\n\"And so,\" she went on, after a pause--\"and so she bade her son destroy\nme if he might, because I slew his father. And thou, my Kallikrates, art\nthe father, and in a sense thou art likewise the son; and wouldst thou\navenge thy wrong, and the wrong of that far-off mother of thine, upon\nme, oh Kallikrates? See,\" and she slid to her knees, and drew the white\ncorsage still farther down her ivory bosom--\"see, here beats my heart,\nand there by thy side is a knife, heavy, and long, and sharp, the very\nknife to slay an erring woman with. Take it now, and be avenged. Strike,\nand strike home!--so shalt thou be satisfied, Kallikrates, and go\nthrough life a happy man, because thou hast paid back the wrong, and\nobeyed the mandate of the past.\"\n\nHe looked at her, and then stretched out his hand and lifted her to her\nfeet.\n\n\"Rise, Ayesha,\" he said sadly; \"well thou knowest that I cannot strike\nthee, no, not even for the sake of her whom thou slewest but last\nnight. I am in thy power, and a very slave to thee. How can I kill\nthee?--sooner should I slay myself.\"\n\n\"Almost dost thou begin to love me, Kallikrates,\" she answered, smiling.\n\"And now tell me of thy country--'tis a great people, is it not? with an\nempire like that of Rome! Surely thou wouldst return thither, and it is\nwell, for I mean not that thou shouldst dwell in these caves of Kôr.\nNay, when once thou art even as I am, we will go hence--fear not but\nthat I shall find a path--and then shall we journey to this England of\nthine, and live as it becometh us to live. Two thousand years have I\nwaited for the day when I should see the last of these hateful caves and\nthis gloomy-visaged folk, and now it is at hand, and my heart bounds up\nto meet it like a child's towards its holiday. For thou shalt rule this\nEngland----\"\n\n\"But we have a queen already,\" broke in Leo, hastily.\n\n\"It is naught, it is naught,\" said Ayesha; \"she can be overthrown.\"\n\nAt this we both broke out into an exclamation of dismay, and explained\nthat we should as soon think of overthrowing ourselves.\n\n\"But here is a strange thing,\" said Ayesha, in astonishment; \"a queen\nwhom her people love! Surely the world must have changed since I dwelt\nin Kôr.\"\n\nAgain we explained that it was the character of monarchs that had\nchanged, and that the one under whom we lived was venerated and beloved\nby all right-thinking people in her vast realms. Also, we told her that\nreal power in our country rested in the hands of the people, and that we\nwere in fact ruled by the votes of the lower and least educated classes\nof the community.\n\n\"Ah,\" she said, \"a democracy--then surely there is a tyrant, for I have\nlong since seen that democracies, having no clear will of their own, in\nthe end set up a tyrant, and worship him.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I said, \"we have our tyrants.\"\n\n\"Well,\" she answered resignedly, \"we can at any rate destroy these\ntyrants, and Kallikrates shall rule the land.\"\n\nI instantly informed Ayesha that in England \"blasting\" was not an\namusement that could be indulged in with impunity, and that any such\nattempt would meet with the consideration of the law and probably end\nupon a scaffold.\n\n\"The law,\" she laughed with scorn--\"the law! Canst thou not understand,\noh Holly, that I am above the law, and so shall my Kallikrates be also?\nAll human law will be to us as the north wind to a mountain. Does the\nwind bend the mountain, or the mountain the wind?\"\n\n\"And now leave me, I pray thee, and thou too, my own Kallikrates, for\nI would get me ready against our journey, and so must ye both, and your\nservant also. But bring no great quantity of things with thee, for I\ntrust that we shall be but three days gone. Then shall we return hither,\nand I will make a plan whereby we can bid farewell for ever to these\nsepulchres of Kôr. Yea, surely thou mayst kiss my hand!\"\n\nSo we went, I, for one, meditating deeply on the awful nature of the\nproblem that now opened out before us. The terrible _She_ had evidently\nmade up her mind to go to England, and it made me absolutely shudder\nto think what would be the result of her arrival there. What her powers\nwere I knew, and I could not doubt but that she would exercise them\nto the full. It might be possible to control her for a while, but her\nproud, ambitious spirit would be certain to break loose and avenge\nitself for the long centuries of its solitude. She would, if necessary,\nand if the power of her beauty did not unaided prove equal to the\noccasion, blast her way to any end she set before her, and, as she could\nnot die, and for aught I knew could not even be killed,[*] what was\nthere to stop her? In the end she would, I had little doubt, assume\nabsolute rule over the British dominions, and probably over the whole\nearth, and, though I was sure that she would speedily make ours the most\nglorious and prosperous empire that the world has ever seen, it would be\nat the cost of a terrible sacrifice of life.\n\n     [*] I regret to say that I was never able to ascertain if\n     _She_ was invulnerable against the ordinary accidents of\n     life. Presumably this was so, else some misadventure would\n     have been sure to put an end to her in the course of so many\n     centuries. True, she offered to let Leo slay her, but very\n     probably this was only an experiment to try his temper and\n     mental attitude towards her. Ayesha never gave way to\n     impulse without some valid object.--L. H. H.\n\nThe whole thing sounded like a dream or some extraordinary invention of\na speculative brain, and yet it was a fact--a wonderful fact--of which\nthe whole world would soon be called on to take notice. What was the\nmeaning of it all? After much thinking I could only conclude that this\nmarvellous creature, whose passion had kept her for so many centuries\nchained as it were, and comparatively harmless, was now about to be used\nby Providence as a means to change the order of the world, and possibly,\nby the building up of a power that could no more be rebelled against\nor questioned than the decrees of Fate, to change it materially for the\nbetter.\n\n\n\nXXIII\n\nTHE TEMPLE OF TRUTH\n\nOur preparations did not take us very long. We put a change of clothing\napiece and some spare boots into my Gladstone bag, also we took our\nrevolvers and an express rifle each, together with a good supply of\nammunition, a precaution to which, under Providence, we subsequently\nowed our lives over and over again. The rest of our gear, together with\nour heavy rifles, we left behind us.\n\nA few minutes before the appointed time we once more attended in\nAyesha's boudoir, and found her also ready, her dark cloak thrown over\nher winding-sheetlike wrappings.\n\n\"Are ye prepared for the great venture?\" she said.\n\n\"We are,\" I answered, \"though for my part, Ayesha, I have no faith in\nit.\"\n\n\"Ah, my Holly,\" she said, \"thou art of a truth like those old Jews--of\nwhom the memory vexes me so sorely--unbelieving, and hard to accept\nthat which they have not known. But thou shalt see; for unless my mirror\nbeyond lies,\" and she pointed to the font of crystal water, \"the path is\nyet open as it was of old time. And now let us start upon the new life\nwhich shall end--who knoweth where?\"\n\n\"Ah,\" I echoed, \"who knoweth where?\" and we passed down into the great\ncentral cave, and out into the light of day. At the mouth of the cave we\nfound a single litter with six bearers, all of them mutes, waiting, and\nwith them I was relieved to see our old friend Billali, for whom I\nhad conceived a sort of affection. It appeared that, for reasons not\nnecessary to explain at length, Ayesha had thought it best that, with\nthe exception of herself, we should proceed on foot, and this we were\nnothing loth to do, after our long confinement in these caves,\nwhich, however suitable they might be for sarcophagi--a singularly\ninappropriate word, by the way, for these particular tombs, which\ncertainly did not consume the bodies given to their keeping--were\ndepressing habitations for breathing mortals like ourselves. Either by\naccident or by the orders of _She_, the space in front of the cave where\nwe had beheld that awful dance was perfectly clear of spectators. Not\na soul was to be seen, and consequently I do not believe that our\ndeparture was known to anybody, except perhaps the mutes who waited on\n_She_, and they were, of course, in the habit of keeping what they saw\nto themselves.\n\nIn a few minutes' time we were stepping out sharply across the great\ncultivated plain or lake bed, framed like a vast emerald in its setting\nof frowning cliff, and had another opportunity of wondering at the\nextraordinary nature of the site chosen by these old people of Kôr for\ntheir capital, and at the marvellous amount of labour, ingenuity, and\nengineering skill that must have been brought into requisition by the\nfounders of the city to drain so huge a sheet of water, and to keep\nit clear of subsequent accumulations. It is, indeed, so far as my\nexperience goes, an unequalled instance of what man can do in the face\nof nature, for in my opinion such achievements as the Suez Canal or\neven the Mont Cenis Tunnel do not approach this ancient undertaking in\nmagnitude and grandeur of conception.\n\nWhen we had been walking for about half an hour, enjoying ourselves\nexceedingly in the delightful cool which about this time of the day\nalways appeared to descend upon the great plain of Kôr, and which in\nsome degree atoned for the want of any land or sea breeze--for all wind\nwas kept off by the rocky mountain wall--we began to get a clear view of\nwhat Billali had informed us were the ruins of the great city. And even\nfrom that distance we could see how wonderful those ruins were, a fact\nwhich with every step we took became more evident. The town was not\nvery large if compared to Babylon or Thebes, or other cities of remote\nantiquity; perhaps its outer wall contained some twelve square miles of\nground, or a little more. Nor had the walls, so far as we could judge\nwhen we reached them, been very high, probably not more than forty feet,\nwhich was about their present height where they had not through the\nsinking of the ground, or some such cause, fallen into ruin. The reason\nof this, no doubt, was that the people of Kôr, being protected from any\noutside attack by far more tremendous ramparts than any that the hand of\nman could rear, only required them for show and to guard against civil\ndiscord. But on the other hand they were as broad as they were high,\nbuilt entirely of dressed stone, hewn, no doubt, from the vast caves,\nand surrounded by a great moat about sixty feet in width, some reaches\nof which were still filled with water. About ten minutes before the\nsun finally sank we reached this moat, and passed down and through it,\nclambering across what evidently were the piled-up fragments of a great\nbridge in order to do so, and then with some little difficulty over the\nslope of the wall to its summit. I wish that it lay within the power of\nmy pen to give some idea of the grandeur of the sight that then met our\nview. There, all bathed in the red glow of the sinking sun, were miles\nupon miles of ruins--columns, temples, shrines, and the palaces of\nkings, varied with patches of green bush. Of course, the roofs of these\nbuildings had long since fallen into decay and vanished, but owing to\nthe extreme massiveness of the style of building, and to the hardness\nand durability of the rock employed, most of the party walls and great\ncolumns still remained standing.[*]\n\n     [*] In connection with the extraordinary state of\n     preservation of these ruins after so vast a lapse of time--\n     at least six thousand years--it must be remembered that Kôr\n     was not burnt or destroyed by an enemy or an earthquake, but\n     deserted, owing to the action of a terrible plague.\n     Consequently the houses were left unharmed; also the climate\n     of the plain is remarkably fine and dry, and there is very\n     little rain or wind; as a result of which these relics have\n     only to contend against the unaided action of time, that\n     works but slowly upon such massive blocks of masonry. --L.\n     H. H.\n\nStraight before us stretched away what had evidently been the main\nthoroughfare of the city, for it was very wide, wider than the Thames\nEmbankment, and regular, being, as we afterwards discovered, paved,\nor rather built, throughout of blocks of dressed stone, such as were\nemployed in the walls, it was but little overgrown even now with grass\nand shrubs that could get no depth of soil to live in. What had been the\nparks and gardens, on the contrary, were now dense jungle. Indeed, it\nwas easy even from a distance to trace the course of the various roads\nby the burnt-up appearance of the scanty grass that grew upon them. On\neither side of this great thoroughfare were vast blocks of ruins, each\nblock, generally speaking, being separated from its neighbour by a space\nof what had once, I suppose, been garden-ground, but was now dense and\ntangled bush. They were all built of the same coloured stone, and most\nof them had pillars, which was as much as we could make out in the\nfading light as we passed swiftly up the main road, that I believe I am\nright in saying no living foot had pressed for thousands of years.[*]\n\n     [*] Billali told me that the Amahagger believe that the site\n     of the city is haunted, and could not be persuaded to enter\n     it upon any consideration. Indeed, I could see that he\n     himself did not at all like doing so, and was only consoled\n     by the reflection that he was under the direct protection of\n     _She_. It struck Leo and myself as very curious that a\n     people which has no objection to living amongst the dead,\n     with whom their familiarity has perhaps bred contempt, and\n     even using their bodies for purposes of fuel, should be\n     terrified at approaching the habitations that these very\n     departed had occupied when alive. After all, however, it is\n     only a savage inconsistency.--L. H. H.\n\nPresently we came to an enormous pile, which we rightly took to be a\ntemple covering at least eight acres of ground, and apparently arranged\nin a series of courts, each one enclosing another of smaller size, on\nthe principle of a Chinese nest of boxes, the courts being separated one\nfrom the other by rows of huge columns. And, while I think of it, I may\nas well state a remarkable thing about the shape of these columns, which\nresembled none that I have ever seen or heard of, being fashioned with a\nkind of waist at the centre, and swelling out above and below. At first\nwe thought that this shape was meant to roughly symbolise or suggest\nthe female form, as was a common habit amongst the ancient religious\narchitects of many creeds. On the following day, however, as we went up\nthe slopes of the mountain, we discovered a large quantity of the most\nstately looking palms, of which the trucks grew exactly in this shape,\nand I have now no doubt but that the first designer of those columns\ndrew his inspiration from the graceful bends of those very palms, or\nrather of their ancestors, which then, some eight or ten thousand years\nago, as now, beautified the slopes of the mountain that had once formed\nthe shores of the volcanic lake.\n\nAt the _façade_ of this huge temple, which, I should imagine, is almost\nas large as that of El-Karnac, at Thebes, some of the largest columns,\nwhich I measured, being between eighteen to twenty feet in diameter at\nthe base, by about seventy feet in height, our little procession was\nhalted, and Ayesha descended from her litter.\n\n\"There was a spot here, Kallikrates,\" she said to Leo, who had run up to\nhelp her down, \"where one might sleep. Two thousand years ago did thou\nand I and that Egyptian asp rest therein, but since then have I not set\nfoot here, nor any man, and perchance it has fallen,\" and, followed by\nthe rest of us, she passed up a vast flight of broken and ruined steps\ninto the outer court, and looked round into the gloom. Presently she\nseemed to recollect, and, walking a few paces along the wall to the\nleft, halted.\n\n\"It is here,\" she said, and at the same time beckoned to the two mutes,\nwho were loaded with provisions and our little belongings, to advance.\nOne of them came forward, and, producing a lamp, lit it from his brazier\n(for the Amahagger when on a journey nearly always carried with them a\nlittle lighted brazier, from which to provide fire). The tinder of this\nbrazier was made of broken fragments of mummy carefully damped, and,\nif the admixture of moisture was properly managed, this unholy compound\nwould smoulder away for hours.[*] As soon as the lamp was lit we entered\nthe place before which Ayesha had halted. It turned out to be a chamber\nhollowed in the thickness of the wall, and, from the fact of there still\nbeing a massive stone table in it, I should think that it had probably\nserved as a living-room, perhaps for one of the door-keepers of the\ngreat temple.\n\n     [*] After all we are not much in advance of the Amahagger in\n     these matters. \"Mummy,\" that is pounded ancient Egyptian,\n     is, I believe, a pigment much used by artists, and\n     especially by those of them who direct their talents to the\n     reproduction of the works of the old masters.--Editor.\n\nHere we stopped, and after cleaning the place out and making it as\ncomfortable as circumstances and the darkness would permit, we ate some\ncold meat, at least Leo, Job and I did, for Ayesha, as I think I have\nsaid elsewhere, never touched anything except cakes of flour, fruit and\nwater. While we were still eating, the moon, which was at her full, rose\nabove the mountain-wall, and began to flood the place with silver.\n\n\"Wot ye why I have brought you here to-night, my Holly?\" said Ayesha,\nleaning her head upon her hand and watching the great orb as she rose,\nlike some heavenly queen, above the solemn pillars of the temple. \"I\nbrought you--nay, it is strange, but knowest thou, Kallikrates, that\nthou liest at this moment upon the very spot where thy dead body lay\nwhen I bore thee back to those caves of Kôr so many years ago? It all\nreturns to my mind now. I can see it, and horrible is it to my sight!\"\nand she shuddered.\n\nHere Leo jumped up and hastily changed his seat. However the\nreminiscence might affect Ayesha, it clearly had few charms for him.\n\n\"I brought you,\" went on Ayesha presently, \"that ye might look upon\nthe most wonderful sight that ever the eye of man beheld--the full moon\nshining over ruined Kôr. When ye have done your eating--I would that I\ncould teach you to eat naught but fruit, Kallikrates, but that will come\nafter thou hast laved in the fire. Once I, too, ate flesh like a brute\nbeast. When ye have done we will go out, and I will show you this great\ntemple and the God whom men once worshipped therein.\"\n\nOf course we got up at once, and started. And here again my pen fails\nme. To give a string of measurements and details of the various courts\nof the temple would only be wearisome, supposing that I had them, and\nyet I know not how I am to describe what we saw, magnificent as it was\neven in its ruin, almost beyond the power of realisation. Court upon dim\ncourt, row upon row of mighty pillars--some of them (especially at the\ngateways) sculptured from pedestal to capital--space upon space of empty\nchambers that spoke more eloquently to the imagination than any crowded\nstreets. And over all, the dead silence of the dead, the sense of utter\nloneliness, and the brooding spirit of the Past! How beautiful it was,\nand yet how drear! We did not dare to speak aloud. Ayesha herself was\nawed in the presence of an antiquity compared to which even her length\nof days was but a little thing; we only whispered, and our whispers\nseemed to run from column to column, till they were lost in the quiet\nair. Bright fell the moonlight on pillar and court and shattered wall,\nhiding all their rents and imperfections in its silver garment, and\nclothing their hoar majesty with the peculiar glory of the night. It was\na wonderful sight to see the full moon looking down on the ruined fane\nof Kôr. It was a wonderful thing to think for how many thousands of\nyears the dead orb above and the dead city below had gazed thus upon\neach other, and in the utter solitude of space poured forth each to each\nthe tale of their lost life and long-departed glory. The white\nlight fell, and minute by minute the quiet shadows crept across\nthe grass-grown courts like the spirits of old priests haunting the\nhabitations of their worship--the white light fell, and the long shadows\ngrew till the beauty and grandeur of each scene and the untamed majesty\nof its present Death seemed to sink into our very souls, and speak more\nloudly than the shouts of armies concerning the pomp and splendour that\nthe grave had swallowed, and even memory had forgotten.\n\n\"Come,\" said Ayesha, after we had gazed and gazed, I know not for how\nlong, \"and I will show you the stony flower of Loveliness and Wonder's\nvery crown, if yet it stands to mock time with its beauty and fill\nthe heart of man with longing for that which is behind the veil,\" and,\nwithout waiting for an answer, she led us through two more pillared\ncourts into the inner shrine of the old fane.\n\nAnd there, in the centre of the inmost court, that might have been some\nfifty yards square, or a little more, we stood face to face with what\nis perhaps the grandest allegorical work of Art that the genius of her\nchildren has ever given to the world. For in the exact centre of the\ncourt, placed upon a thick square slab of rock, was a huge round ball of\ndark stone, some twenty feet in diameter, and standing on the ball was a\ncolossal winged figure of a beauty so entrancing and divine that when\nI first gazed upon it, illuminated and shadowed as it was by the soft\nlight of the moon, my breath stood still, and for an instant my heart\nceased its beating.\n\nThe statue was hewn from marble so pure and white that even now, after\nall those ages, it shone as the moonbeams danced upon it, and its height\nwas, I should say, a trifle over twenty feet. It was the winged figure\nof a woman of such marvellous loveliness and delicacy of form that the\nsize seemed rather to add to than to detract from its so human and yet\nmore spiritual beauty. She was bending forward and poising herself upon\nher half-spread wings as though to preserve her balance as she leant.\nHer arms were outstretched like those of some woman about to embrace\none she dearly loved, while her whole attitude gave an impression of\nthe tenderest beseeching. Her perfect and most gracious form was naked,\nsave--and here came the extraordinary thing--the face, which was thinly\nveiled, so that we could only trace the marking of her features. A gauzy\nveil was thrown round and about the head, and of its two ends one fell\ndown across her left breast, which was outlined beneath it, and one, now\nbroken, streamed away upon the air behind her.\n\n\"Who is she?\" I asked, as soon as I could take my eyes off the statue.\n\n\"Canst thou not guess, oh Holly?\" answered Ayesha. \"Where then is thy\nimagination? It is Truth standing on the World, and calling to its\nchildren to unveil her face. See what is writ upon the pedestal. Without\ndoubt it is taken from the book of Scriptures of these men of Kôr,\" and\nshe led the way to the foot of the statue, where an inscription of the\nusual Chinese-looking hieroglyphics was so deeply graven as to be still\nquite legible, at least to Ayesha. According to her translation it ran\nthus:--\n\n\"Is there no man that will draw my veil and look upon my face, for it is\nvery fair? Unto him who draws my veil shall I be, and peace will I give\nhim, and sweet children of knowledge and good works.\"\n\nAnd a voice cried, \"Though all those who seek after thee desire thee,\nbehold! Virgin art thou, and Virgin shalt thou go till Time be done. No\nman is there born of woman who may draw thy veil and live, nor shall be.\nBy Death only can thy veil be drawn, oh Truth!\"\n\nAnd Truth stretched out her arms and wept, because those who sought her\nmight not find her, nor look upon her face to face.\n\n\"Thou seest,\" said Ayesha, when she had finished translating, \"Truth\nwas the Goddess of the people of old Kôr, and to her they built their\nshrines, and her they sought; knowing that they should never find, still\nsought they.\"\n\n\"And so,\" I added sadly, \"do men seek to this very hour, but they find\nout; and, as this Scripture saith, nor shall they; for in Death only is\nTruth found.\"\n\nThen with one more look at this veiled and spiritualised\nloveliness--which was so perfect and so pure that one might almost fancy\nthat the light of a living spirit shone through the marble prison to\nlead man on to high and ethereal thoughts--this poet's dream of beauty\nfrozen into stone, which I shall never forget while I live, we turned\nand went back through the vast moonlit courts to the spot whence we had\nstarted. I never saw the statue again, which I the more regret, because\non the great ball of stone representing the World whereon the figure\nstood, lines were drawn, that probably, had there been light enough, we\nshould have discovered to be a map of the Universe as it was known to\nthe people of Kôr. It is at any rate suggestive of some scientific\nknowledge that these long-dead worshippers of Truth had recognised the\nfact that the globe is round.\n\n\n\nXXIV\n\nWALKING THE PLANK\n\nNext day the mutes woke us before the dawn; and by the time that we had\ngot the sleep out of our eyes, and gone through a perfunctory wash at a\nspring which still welled up into the remains of a marble basin in the\ncentre of the North quadrangle of the vast outer court, we found _She_\nstanding by the litter ready to start, while old Billali and the two\nbearer mutes were busy collecting the baggage. As usual, Ayesha was\nveiled like the marble Truth (by the way, I wonder if she originally\ngot the idea of covering up her beauty from that statue?). I noticed,\nhowever, that she seemed very depressed, and had none of that proud and\nbuoyant bearing which would have betrayed her among a thousand women of\nthe same stature, even if they had been veiled like herself. She looked\nup as we came--for her head was bowed--and greeted us. Leo asked her how\nshe had slept.\n\n\"Ill, my Kallikrates,\" she answered, \"ill. This night have strange and\nhideous dreams come creeping through my brain, and I know not what they\nmay portend. Almost do I feel as though some evil overshadowed me; and\nyet how can evil touch me? I wonder,\" she went on with a sudden outbreak\nof womanly tenderness, \"I wonder if, should aught happen to me, so that\nI slept awhile and left thee waking, thou wouldst think gently of me? I\nwonder, my Kallikrates, if thou wouldst tarry till I came again, as for\nso many centuries I have tarried for thy coming?\"\n\nThen, without waiting for an answer, she went on: \"Come, let us be\nsetting forth, for we have far to go, and before another day is born in\nyonder blue should we stand in the place of Life.\"\n\nIn five minutes we were once more on our way through the vast ruined\ncity, which loomed at us on either side in the grey dawning in a way\nthat was at once grand and oppressive. Just as the first ray of the\nrising sun shot like a golden arrow athwart this storied desolation we\ngained the further gateway of the outer wall, and having given one more\nglance at the hoar and pillared majesty through which we had journeyed,\nand (with the exception of Job, for whom ruins had no charms) breathed\na sigh of regret that we had not had more time to explore it, passed\nthrough the great moat, and on to the plain beyond.\n\nAs the sun rose so did Ayesha's spirits, till by breakfast-time they had\nregained their normal level, and she laughingly set down her previous\ndepression to the associations of the spot where she had slept.\n\n\"These barbarians swear that Kôr is haunted,\" she said, \"and of a truth\nI do believe their saying, for never did I know so ill a night save one.\nI remember it now. It was on that very spot when thou didst lie dead at\nmy feet, Kallikrates. Never will I visit it again; it is a place of evil\nomen.\"\n\nAfter a very brief halt for breakfast we pressed on with such good will\nthat by two o'clock in the afternoon we were at the foot of the vast\nwall of rock that formed the lip of the volcano, and which at this point\ntowered up precipitously above us for fifteen hundred or two thousand\nfeet. Here we halted, certainly not to my astonishment, for I did not\nsee how it was possible that we should go any farther.\n\n\"Now,\" said Ayesha, as she descended from her litter, \"doth our labour\nbut commence, for here do we part with these men, and henceforward must\nwe bear ourselves;\" and then, addressing Billali, \"do thou and these\nslaves remain here, and abide our coming. By to-morrow at the midday\nshall we be with thee--if not, wait.\"\n\nBillali bowed humbly, and said that her august bidding should be obeyed\nif they stopped there till they grew old.\n\n\"And this man, oh Holly,\" said _She_, pointing to Job; \"best is it\nthat he should tarry also, for if his heart be not high and his courage\ngreat, perchance some evil might overtake him. Also, the secrets of the\nplace whither we go are not fit for common eyes.\"\n\nI translated this to Job, who instantly and earnestly entreated me,\nalmost with tears in his eyes, not to leave him behind. He said he was\nsure that he could see nothing worse than he had already seen, and that\nhe was terrified to death at the idea of being left alone with those\n\"dumb folk,\" who, he thought, would probably take the opportunity to\nhot-pot him.\n\nI translated what he said to Ayesha, who shrugged her shoulders, and\nanswered, \"Well, let him come, it is naught to me; on his own head be\nit, and he will serve to bear the lamp and this,\" and she pointed to a\nnarrow plank, some sixteen feet in length, which had been bound above\nthe long bearing-pole of her hammock, as I had thought to make curtains\nspread out better, but, as it now appeared, for some unknown purpose\nconnected with our extraordinary undertaking.\n\nAccordingly, the plank, which, though tough, was very light, was given\nto Job to carry, and also one of the lamps. I slung the other on to my\nback, together with a spare jar of oil, while Leo loaded himself with\nthe provisions and some water in a kid's skin. When this was done _She_\nbade Billali and the six bearer mutes to retreat behind a grove of\nflowering magnolias about a hundred yards away, and remain there under\npain of death till we had vanished. They bowed humbly, and went, and,\nas he departed, old Billali gave me a friendly shake of the hand, and\nwhispered that he had rather that it was I than he who was going on this\nwonderful expedition with \"_She-who-must-be-obeyed_,\" and upon my word\nI felt inclined to agree with him. In another minute they were gone, and\nthen, having briefly asked us if we were ready, Ayesha turned, and gazed\nup the towering cliff.\n\n\"Goodness me, Leo,\" I said, \"surely we are not going to climb that\nprecipice!\"\n\nLeo shrugged his shoulders, being in a condition of half-fascinated,\nhalf-expectant mystification, and as he did so, Ayesha with a sudden\nmove began to climb the cliff, and of course we had to follow her. It\nwas perfectly marvellous to see the ease and grace with which she sprang\nfrom rock to rock, and swung herself along the ledges. The ascent was\nnot, however, so difficult as it seemed, although there were one or two\nnasty places where it did not do to look behind you, the fact being that\nthe rock still sloped here, and was not absolutely precipitous as it was\nhigher up. In this way we, with no great labour, mounted to the height\nof some fifty feet above our last standing-place, the only really\ntroublesome thing to manage being Job's board, and in doing so drew some\nfifty or sixty paces to the left of our starting-point, for we went up\nlike a crab, sideways. Presently we reached a ledge, narrow enough at\nfirst, but which widened as we followed it, and moreover sloped inwards\nlike the petal of a flower, so that as we followed it we gradually got\ninto a kind of rut or fold of rock, that grew deeper and deeper, till at\nlast it resembled a Devonshire lane in stone, and hid us perfectly from\nthe gaze of anybody on the slope below, if there had been anybody to\ngaze. This lane (which appeared to be a natural formation) continued\nfor some fifty or sixty paces, and then suddenly ended in a cave, also\nnatural, running at right angles to it. I am sure it was a natural\ncave, and not hollowed by the hand of man, because of its irregular and\ncontorted shape and course, which gave it the appearance of having been\nblown bodily in the mountain by some frightful eruption of gas following\nthe line of the least resistance. All the caves hollowed by the ancients\nof Kôr, on the contrary, were cut out with the most perfect regularity\nand symmetry. At the mouth of this cave Ayesha halted, and bade us light\nthe two lamps, which I did, giving one to her and keeping the other\nmyself. Then, taking the lead, she advanced down the cavern, picking her\nway with great care, as indeed it was necessary to do, for the floor was\nmost irregular--strewn with boulders like the bed of a stream, and in\nsome places pitted with deep holes, in which it would have been easy to\nbreak one's leg.\n\nThis cavern we pursued for twenty minutes or more, it being, so far as\nI could form a judgment--owing to its numerous twists and turns no easy\ntask--about a quarter of a mile long.\n\nAt last, however, we halted at its farther end, and whilst I was still\ntrying to pierce the gloom a great gust of air came tearing down it, and\nextinguished both the lamps.\n\nAyesha called to us, and we crept up to her, for she was a little in\nfront, and were rewarded with a view that was positively appalling in\nits gloom and grandeur. Before us was a mighty chasm in the black rock,\njagged and torn and splintered through it in a far past age by some\nawful convulsion of Nature, as though it had been cleft by stroke upon\nstroke of the lightning. This chasm, which was bounded by a precipice on\nthe hither, and presumably, though we could not see it, on the farther\nside also, may have measured any width across, but from its darkness I\ndo not think it can have been very broad. It was impossible to make out\nmuch of its outline, or how far it ran, for the simple reason that the\npoint where we were standing was so far from the upper surface of the\ncliff, at least fifteen hundred or two thousand feet, that only a very\ndim light struggled down to us from above. The mouth of the cavern that\nwe had been following gave on to a most curious and tremendous spur\nof rock, which jutted out in mid air into the gulf before us, for\na distance of some fifty yards, coming to a sharp point at its\ntermination, and resembling nothing that I can think of so much as the\nspur upon the leg of a cock in shape. This huge spur was attached only\nto the parent precipice at its base, which was, of course, enormous,\njust as the cock's spur is attached to its leg. Otherwise it was utterly\nunsupported.\n\n\"Here must we pass,\" said Ayesha. \"Be careful lest giddiness overcome\nyou, or the wind sweep you into the gulf beneath, for of a truth it hath\nno bottom;\" and, without giving us any further time to get scared, she\nstarted walking along the spur, leaving us to follow her as best we\nmight. I was next to her, then came Job, painfully dragging his plank,\nwhile Leo brought up the rear. It was a wonderful sight to see this\nintrepid woman gliding fearlessly along that dreadful place. For my\npart, when I had gone but a very few yards, what between the pressure\nof the air and the awful sense of the consequences that a slip would\nentail, I found it necessary to go down on my hands and knees and crawl,\nand so did the other two.\n\nBut Ayesha never condescended to this. On she went, leaning her body\nagainst the gusts of wind, and never seeming to lose her head or her\nbalance.\n\nIn a few minutes we had crossed some twenty paces of this awful bridge,\nwhich got narrower at every step, and then all of a sudden a great gust\ncame tearing along the gorge. I saw Ayesha lean herself against it, but\nthe strong draught got under her dark cloak, and tore it from her, and\naway it went down the wind flapping like a wounded bird. It was dreadful\nto see it go, till it was lost in the blackness. I clung to the saddle\nof rock, and looked round, while, like a living thing, the great spur\nvibrated with a humming sound beneath us. The sight was a truly awesome\none. There we were poised in the gloom between earth and heaven. Beneath\nus were hundreds upon hundreds of feet of emptiness that gradually grew\ndarker, till at last it was absolutely black, and at what depth it ended\nis more than I can guess. Above was space upon space of giddy air, and\nfar, far away a line of blue sky. And down this vast gulf upon which we\nwere pinnacled the great draught dashed and roared, driving clouds and\nmisty wreaths of vapour before it, till we were nearly blinded, and\nutterly confused.\n\nThe whole position was so tremendous and so absolutely unearthly, that I\nbelieve it actually lulled our sense of terror, but to this hour I often\nsee it in my dreams, and at its mere phantasy wake up covered with cold\nsweat.\n\n\"On! on!\" cried the white form before us, for now the cloak had gone,\n_She_ was robed in white, and looked more like a spirit riding down the\ngale than a woman; \"On, or ye will fall and be dashed to pieces. Keep\nyour eyes fixed upon the ground, and closely hug the rock.\"\n\nWe obeyed her, and crept painfully along the quivering path, against\nwhich the wind shrieked and wailed as it shook it, causing it to murmur\nlike a vast tuning-fork. On we went, I do not know for how long, only\ngazing round now and again, when it was absolutely necessary, until at\nlast we saw that we were on the very tip of the spur, a slab of rock,\nlittle larger than an ordinary table, that throbbed and jumped like any\nover-engined steamer. There we lay, clinging to the ground, and looked\nabout us, while Ayesha stood leaning out against the wind, down which\nher long hair streamed, and, absolutely heedless of the hideous depth\nthat yawned beneath, pointed before her. Then we saw why the narrow\nplank had been provided, which Job and I had painfully dragged along\nbetween us. Before us was an empty space, on the other side of which was\nsomething, as yet we could not see what, for here--either owing to the\nshadow of the opposite cliff, or from some other cause--the gloom was\nthat of night.\n\n\"We must wait awhile,\" called Ayesha; \"soon there will be light.\"\n\nAt the moment I could not imagine what she meant. How could more light\nthan there was ever come to this dreadful spot? While I was still\nwondering, suddenly, like a great sword of flame, a beam from the\nsetting sun pierced the Stygian gloom, and smote upon the point of\nrock whereon we lay, illumining Ayesha's lovely form with an unearthly\nsplendour. I only wish I could describe the wild and marvellous beauty\nof that sword of fire, laid across the darkness and rushing mist-wreaths\nof the gulf. How it got there I do not to this moment know, but I\npresume that there was some cleft or hole in the opposing cliff, through\nwhich it pierced when the setting orb was in a direct line therewith.\nAll I can say is, that the effect was the most wonderful that I ever\nsaw. Right through the heart of the darkness that flaming sword was\nstabbed, and where it lay there was the most surpassingly vivid light,\nso vivid that even at a distance we could see the grain of the rock,\nwhile, outside of it--yes, within a few inches of its keen edge--was\nnaught but clustering shadows.\n\nAnd now, by this ray of light, for which _She_ had been waiting, and\ntimed our arrival to meet, knowing that at this season for thousands of\nyears it had always struck thus at sunset, we saw what was before us.\nWithin eleven or twelve feet of the very tip of the tongue-like rock\nwhereon we stood there arose, presumably from the far bottom of the\ngulf, a sugarloaf-shaped cone, of which the summit was exactly opposite\nto us. But had there been a summit only it would not have helped us\nmuch, for the nearest point of its circumference was some forty feet\nfrom where we were. On the lip of this summit, however, which was\ncircular and hollow, rested a tremendous flat boulder, something like a\nglacier stone--perhaps it was one, for all I know to the contrary--and\nthe end of this boulder approached to within twelve feet or so of us.\nThis huge rock was nothing more or less than a gigantic rocking-stone,\naccurately balanced upon the edge of the cone or miniature crater, like\na half-crown on the rim of a wine-glass; for, in the fierce light that\nplayed upon it and us, we could see it oscillating in the gusts of wind.\n\n\"Quick!\" said Ayesha; \"the plank--we must cross while the light endures;\npresently it will be gone.\"\n\n\"Oh, Lord, sir!\" groaned Job, \"surely she don't mean us to walk across\nthat there place on that there thing,\" as in obedience to my direction\nhe pushed the long board towards me.\n\n\"That's it, Job,\" I halloaed in ghastly merriment, though the idea of\nwalking the plank was no pleasanter to me than to him.\n\nI pushed the board on to Ayesha, who deftly ran it across the gulf so\nthat one end of it rested on the rocking-stone, the other remaining on\nthe extremity of the trembling spur. Then placing her foot upon it to\nprevent it from being blown away, she turned to me.\n\n\"Since I was last here, oh Holly,\" she called, \"the support of the\nmoving stone hath lessened somewhat, so that I am not certain if it will\nbear our weight or no. Therefore will I cross the first, because no\nharm will come unto me,\" and, without further ado, she trod lightly but\nfirmly across the frail bridge, and in another second was standing safe\nupon the heaving stone.\n\n\"It is safe,\" she called. \"See, hold thou the plank! I will stand on\nthe farther side of the stone so that it may not overbalance with your\ngreater weights. Now, come, oh Holly, for presently the light will fail\nus.\"\n\nI struggled to my knees, and if ever I felt terrified in my life it was\nthen, and I am not ashamed to say that I hesitated and hung back.\n\n\"Surely thou art not afraid,\" this strange creature called in a lull of\nthe gale, from where she stood poised like a bird on the highest point\nof the rocking-stone. \"Make way then for Kallikrates.\"\n\nThis settled me; it is better to fall down a precipice and die than\nbe laughed at by such a woman; so I clenched my teeth, and in another\ninstant I was on that horrible, narrow, bending plank, with bottomless\nspace beneath and around me. I have always hated a great height, but\nnever before did I realise the full horrors of which such a position is\ncapable. Oh, the sickening sensation of that yielding board resting on\nthe two moving supports. I grew dizzy, and thought that I must fall;\nmy spine _crept_; it seemed to me that I was falling, and my delight at\nfinding myself sprawling upon that stone, which rose and fell beneath me\nlike a boat in a swell, cannot be expressed in words. All I know is that\nbriefly, but earnestly enough, I thanked Providence for preserving me so\nfar.\n\nThen came Leo's turn, and though he looked rather queer, he came across\nlike a rope-dancer. Ayesha stretched out her hand to clasp his own, and\nI heard her say, \"Bravely done, my love--bravely done! The old Greek\nspirit lives in thee yet!\"\n\nAnd now only poor Job remained on the farther side of the gulf. He crept\nup to the plank, and yelled out, \"I can't do it, sir. I shall fall into\nthat beastly place.\"\n\n\"You must,\" I remember saying with inappropriate facetiousness--\"you\nmust, Job, it's as easy as catching flies.\" I suppose that I must\nhave said it to satisfy my conscience, because although the expression\nconveys a wonderful idea of facility, as a matter of fact I know no more\ndifficult operation in the whole world than catching flies--that is, in\nwarm weather, unless, indeed, it is catching mosquitoes.\n\n\"I can't, sir--I can't, indeed.\"\n\n\"Let the man come, or let him stop and perish there. See, the light is\ndying! In a moment it will be gone!\" said Ayesha.\n\nI looked. She was right. The sun was passing below the level of the hole\nor cleft in the precipice through which the ray reached us.\n\n\"If you stop there, Job, you will die alone,\" I called; \"the light is\ngoing.\"\n\n\"Come, be a man, Job,\" roared Leo; \"it's quite easy.\"\n\nThus adjured, the miserable Job, with a most awful yell, precipitated\nhimself face downwards on the plank--he did not dare, small blame to\nhim, to try to walk it, and commenced to draw himself across in little\njerks, his poor legs hanging down on either side into the nothingness\nbeneath.\n\nHis violent jerks at the frail board made the great stone, which was\nonly balanced on a few inches of rock, oscillate in a most dreadful\nmanner, and, to make matters worse, when he was half-way across the\nflying ray of lurid light suddenly went out, just as though a lamp\nhad been extinguished in a curtained room, leaving the whole howling\nwilderness of air black with darkness.\n\n\"Come on, Job, for God's sake!\" I shouted in an agony of fear, while the\nstone, gathering motion with every swing, rocked so violently that it\nwas difficult to hang on to it. It was a truly awful position.\n\n\"Lord have mercy on me!\" cried poor Job from the darkness. \"Oh, the\nplank's slipping!\" and I heard a violent struggle, and thought that he\nwas gone.\n\nBut at that moment his outstretched hand, clasping in agony at the\nair, met my own, and I hauled--ah, how I did haul, putting out all\nthe strength that it has pleased Providence to give me in such\nabundance--and to my joy in another minute Job was gasping on the rock\nbeside me. But the plank! I felt it slip, and heard it knock against a\nprojecting knob of rock, and it was gone.\n\n\"Great heavens!\" I exclaimed. \"How are we going to get back?\"\n\n\"I don't know,\" answered Leo, out of the gloom. \"'Sufficient to the day\nis the evil thereof,' I am thankful enough to be here.\"\n\nBut Ayesha merely called to me to take her hand and creep after her.\n\n\n\nXXV\n\nTHE SPIRIT OF LIFE\n\nI did as I was bid, and in fear and trembling felt myself guided over\nthe edge of the stone. I sprawled my legs out, but could touch nothing.\n\n\"I am going to fall!\" I gasped.\n\n\"Nay, let thyself go, and trust to me,\" answered Ayesha.\n\nNow, if the position is considered, it will be easily understood that\nthis was a greater demand upon my confidence than was justified by my\nknowledge of Ayesha's character. For all I knew she might be in the very\nact of consigning me to a horrible doom. But in life we sometimes have\nto lay our faith upon strange altars, and so it was now.\n\n\"Let thyself go!\" she cried, and, having no choice, I did.\n\nI felt myself slide a pace or two down the sloping surface of the rock,\nand then pass into the air, and the thought flashed through my brain\nthat I was lost. But no! In another instant my feet struck against a\nrocky floor, and I felt that I was standing upon something solid, and\nout of reach of the wind, which I could hear singing away overhead. As\nI stood there thanking Heaven for these small mercies, there was a slip\nand a scuffle, and down came Leo alongside of me.\n\n\"Hulloa, old fellow!\" he called out, \"are you there? This is getting\ninteresting, is it not?\"\n\nJust then, with a terrific yell, Job arrived right on the top of us,\nknocking us both down. By the time we had struggled to our feet again\nAyesha was standing among us, and bidding us light the lamps, which\nfortunately remained uninjured, as also did the spare jar of oil.\n\nI got out my box of wax matches, and they struck as merrily, there, in\nthat awful place, as they could have done in a London drawing-room.\n\nIn a couple of minutes both the lamps were alight and revealed a curious\nscene. We were huddled together in a rocky chamber, some ten feet\nsquare, and scared enough we looked; that is, except Ayesha, who was\nstanding calmly with her arms folded, and waiting for the lamps to burn\nup. The chamber appeared to be partly natural, and partly hollowed out\nof the top of the cone. The roof of the natural part was formed of the\nswinging stone, and that of the back part of the chamber, which sloped\ndownwards, was hewn from the live rock. For the rest, the place was warm\nand dry--a perfect haven of rest compared to the giddy pinnacle above,\nand the quivering spur that shot out to meet it in mid-air.\n\n\"So!\" said _She_, \"safely have we come, though once I feared that\nthe rocking stone would fall with you, and precipitate you into the\nbottomless depths beneath, for I do believe that the cleft goeth down\nto the very womb of the world. The rock whereon the stone resteth hath\ncrumbled beneath the swinging weight. And now that he,\" nodding towards\nJob, who was sitting on the floor, feebly wiping his forehead with a red\ncotton pocket-handkerchief, \"whom they rightly call the 'Pig,' for as a\npig is he stupid, hath let fall the plank, it will not be easy to return\nacross the gulf, and to that end must I make a plan. But now rest a\nwhile, and look upon this place. What think ye that it is?\"\n\n\"We know not,\" I answered.\n\n\"Wouldst thou believe, oh Holly, that once a man did choose this airy\nnest for a daily habitation, and did here endure for many years; leaving\nit only but one day in every twelve to seek food and water and oil that\nthe people brought, more than he could carry, and laid as an offering in\nthe mouth of the tunnel through which we passed hither?\"\n\nWe looked up wonderingly, and she continued--\n\n\"Yet so it was. There was a man--Noot, he named himself--who, though\nhe lived in the latter days, had of the wisdom of the sons of Kôr. A\nhermit was he, and a philosopher, and greatly skilled in the secrets\nof Nature, and he it was who discovered the Fire that I shall show you,\nwhich is Nature's blood and life, and also that he who bathed therein,\nand breathed thereof, should live while Nature lives. But like unto\nthee, oh Holly, this man, Noot, would not turn his knowledge to account.\n'Ill,' he said, 'was it for man to live, for man was born to die.'\nTherefore did he tell his secret to none, and therefore did he come and\nlive here, where the seeker after Life must pass, and was revered of\nthe Amahagger of the day as holy, and a hermit. And when first I came to\nthis country--knowest thou how I came, Kallikrates? Another time I will\ntell thee, for it is a strange tale--I heard of this philosopher, and\nwaited for him when he came to fetch his food, and returned with him\nhither, though greatly did I fear to tread the gulf. Then did I beguile\nhim with my beauty and my wit, and flatter him with my tongue, so that\nhe led me down and showed me the Fire, and told me the secrets of the\nFire, but he would not suffer me to step therein, and, fearing lest he\nshould slay me, I refrained, knowing that the man was very old, and soon\nwould die. And I returned, having learned from him all that he knew of\nthe wonderful Spirit of the World, and that was much, for the man\nwas wise and very ancient, and by purity and abstinence, and the\ncontemplations of his innocent mind, had worn thin the veil between that\nwhich we see and the great invisible truths, the whisper of whose wings\nat times we hear as they sweep through the gross air of the world.\nThen--it was but a very few days after, I met thee, my Kallikrates,\nwho hadst wandered hither with the beautiful Egyptian Amenartas, and I\nlearned to love for the first and last time, once and for ever, so that\nit entered into my mind to come hither with thee, and receive the gift\nof Life for thee and me. Therefore came we, with that Egyptian who would\nnot be left behind, and, behold, we found the old man Noot lying but\nnewly dead. _There_ he lay, and his white beard covered him like a\ngarment,\" and she pointed to a spot near where I was sitting; \"but\nsurely he hath long since crumbled into dust, and the wind hath borne\nhis ashes hence.\"\n\nHere I put out my hand and felt in the dust, and presently my fingers\ntouched something. It was a human tooth, very yellow, but sound. I held\nit up and showed it to Ayesha, who laughed.\n\n\"Yes,\" she said, \"it is his without a doubt. Behold what remaineth of\nNoot, and the wisdom of Noot--one little tooth! And yet that man had all\nlife at his command, and for his conscience' sake would have none of\nit. Well, he lay there newly dead, and we descended whither I shall lead\nyou, and then, gathering up all my courage, and courting death that\nI might perchance win so glorious a crown of life, I stepped into the\nflames, and behold! life such as ye can never know until ye feel it\nalso, flowed into me, and I came forth undying, and lovely beyond\nimagining. Then did I stretch out mine arms to thee, Kallikrates,\nand bid thee take thine immortal bride, and behold, as I spoke, thou,\nblinded by my beauty, didst turn from me, and throw thine arms about the\nneck of Amenartas. And then a great fury filled me, and made me mad,\nand I seized the javelin that thou didst bear, and stabbed thee, so that\nthere, at my very feet, in the place of Life, thou didst groan and go\ndown into death. I knew not then that I had strength to slay with mine\neyes and by the power of my will, therefore in my madness slew I with\nthe javelin.[*]\n\n     [*] It will be observed that Ayesha's account of the death\n     of Kallikrates differs materially from that written on the\n     potsherd by Amenartas. The writing on the sherd says, \"Then\n     in her rage did she smite him _by her magic_, and he died.\"\n     We never ascertained which was the correct version, but it\n     will be remembered that the body of Kallikrates had a spear-\n     wound in the breast, which seems conclusive, unless, indeed,\n     it was inflicted after death. Another thing that we never\n     ascertained was _how_ the two women--_She_ and the Egyptian\n     Amenartas--were able to bear the corpse of the man they both\n     loved across the dread gulf and along the shaking spur. What\n     a spectacle the two distracted creatures must have presented\n     in their grief and loveliness as they toiled along that\n     awful place with the dead man between them! Probably however\n     the passage was easier then.--L. H. H.\n\n\"And when thou wast dead, ah! I wept, because I was undying and thou\nwast dead. I wept there in the place of Life so that had I been mortal\nany more my heart had surely broken. And she, the swart Egyptian--she\ncursed me by her gods. By Osiris did she curse me and by Isis, by\nNephthys and by Anubis, by Sekhet, the cat-headed, and by Set, calling\ndown evil on me, evil and everlasting desolation. Ah! I can see her dark\nface now lowering o'er me like a storm, but she could not hurt me, and\nI--I know not if I could hurt her. I did not try; it was naught to me\nthen; so together we bore thee hence. And afterwards I sent her--the\nEgyptian--away through the swamps, and it seems that she lived to bear\na son and to write the tale that should lead thee, her husband, back to\nme, her rival and thy murderess.\n\n\"Such is the tale, my love, and now is the hour at hand that shall set\na crown upon it. Like all things on the earth, it is compounded of evil\nand of good--more of evil than of good, perchance; and writ in letters\nof blood. It is the truth; naught have I hidden from thee, Kallikrates.\nAnd now one thing before the final moment of thy trial. We go down\ninto the presence of Death, for Life and Death are very near together,\nand--who knoweth?--that might happen which should separate us for\nanother space of waiting. I am but a woman, and no prophetess, and I\ncannot read the future. But this I know--for I learned it from the\nlips of the wise man Noot--that my life is but prolonged and made more\nbright. It cannot live for aye. Therefore, before we go, tell me, oh\nKallikrates, that of a truth thou dost forgive me, and dost love me from\nthy heart. See, Kallikrates: much evil have I done--perchance it was\nevil but two nights ago to strike that girl who loved thee cold in\ndeath--but she disobeyed me and angered me, prophesying misfortune to\nme, and I smote. Be careful when power comes to thee also, lest thou\ntoo shouldst smite in thine anger or thy jealousy, for unconquerable\nstrength is a sore weapon in the hands of erring man. Yea, I have\nsinned--out of the bitterness born of a great love have I sinned--but\nyet do I know the good from the evil, nor is my heart altogether\nhardened. Thy love, Kallikrates, shall be the gate of my redemption,\neven as aforetime my passion was the path down which I ran to evil. For\ndeep love unsatisfied is the hell of noble hearts and a portion of the\naccursed, but love that is mirrored back more perfect from the soul of\nour desired doth fashion wings to lift us above ourselves, and makes us\nwhat we might be. Therefore, Kallikrates, take me by the hand, and lift\nmy veil with no more fear than though I were some peasant girl, and not\nthe wisest and most beauteous woman in this wide world, and look me in\nthe eyes, and tell me that thou dost forgive me with all thine heart,\nand that will all thine heart thou dost worship me.\"\n\nShe paused, and the strange tenderness in her voice seemed to hover\nround us like a memory. I know that the sound of it moved me more even\nthan her words, it was so very human--so very womanly. Leo, too, was\nstrangely touched. Hitherto he had been fascinated against his better\njudgment, something as a bird is fascinated by a snake, but now I think\nthat all this passed away, and he realised that he really loved this\nstrange and glorious creature, as, alas! I loved her also. At any rate,\nI saw his eyes fill with tears, and he stepped swiftly to her and undid\nthe gauzy veil, and then took her by the hand, and, gazing into her deep\neyes, said aloud--\n\n\"Ayesha, I love thee with all my heart, and so far as forgiveness is\npossible I forgive thee the death of Ustane. For the rest, it is between\nthee and thy Maker; I know naught of it. I only know that I love thee as\nI never loved before, and that I will cleave to thee to the end.\"\n\n\"Now,\" answered Ayesha, with proud humility--\"now when my lord doth\nspeak thus royally and give with so free a hand, it cannot become me to\nlag behind in words, and be beggared of my generosity. Behold!\" and she\ntook his hand and placed it upon her shapely head, and then bent herself\nslowly down till one knee for an instant touched the ground--\"Behold! in\ntoken of submission do I bow me to my lord! Behold!\" and she kissed him\non the lips, \"in token of my wifely love do I kiss my lord. Behold!\"\nand she laid her hand upon his heart, \"by the sin I sinned, by my lonely\ncenturies of waiting wherewith it was wiped out, by the great love\nwherewith I love, and by the Spirit--the Eternal Thing that doth beget\nall life, from whom it ebbs, to whom it doth return again--I swear:--\n\n\"I swear, even in this most holy hour of completed Womanhood, that I\nwill abandon Evil and cherish Good. I swear that I will be ever guided\nby thy voice in the straightest path of Duty. I swear that I will eschew\nAmbition, and through all my length of endless days set Wisdom over me\nas a guiding star to lead me unto Truth and a knowledge of the Right.\nI swear also that I will honour and will cherish thee, Kallikrates, who\nhast been swept by the wave of time back into my arms, ay, till the very\nend, come it soon or late. I swear--nay, I will swear no more, for what\nare words? Yet shalt thou learn that Ayesha hath no false tongue.\n\n\"So I have sworn, and thou, my Holly, art witness to my oath. Here, too,\nare we wed, my husband, with the gloom for bridal canopy--wed till the\nend of all things; here do we write our marriage vows upon the rushing\nwinds which shall bear them up to heaven, and round and continually\nround this rolling world.\n\n\"And for a bridal gift I crown thee with my beauty's starry crown, and\nenduring life, and wisdom without measure, and wealth that none can\ncount. Behold! the great ones of the earth shall creep about thy feet,\nand its fair women shall cover up their eyes because of the shining\nglory of thy countenance, and its wise ones shall be abased before thee.\nThou shalt read the hearts of men as an open writing, and hither and\nthither shalt thou lead them as thy pleasure listeth. Like that old\nSphinx of Egypt shalt thou sit aloft from age to age, and ever shall\nthey cry to thee to solve the riddle of thy greatness that doth not pass\naway, and ever shalt thou mock them with thy silence!\n\n\"Behold! once more I kiss thee, and by that kiss I give to thee dominion\nover sea and earth, over the peasant in his hovel, over the monarch in\nhis palace halls, and cities crowned with towers, and those who breathe\ntherein. Where'er the sun shakes out his spears, and the lonesome waters\nmirror up the moon, where'er storms roll, and Heaven's painted bows arch\nin the sky--from the pure North clad in snows, across the middle spaces\nof the world, to where the amorous South, lying like a bride upon her\nblue couch of seas, breathes in sighs made sweet with the odour of\nmyrtles--there shall thy power pass and thy dominion find a home. Nor\nsickness, nor icy-fingered fear, nor sorrow, and pale waste of form and\nmind hovering ever o'er humanity, shall so much as shadow thee with the\nshadow of their wings. As a God shalt thou be, holding good and evil in\nthe hollow of thy hand, and I, even I, I humble myself before thee.\nSuch is the power of Love, and such is the bridal gift I give unto thee,\nKallikrates, my Lord and Lord of All.\n\n\"And now it is done; now for thee I loose my virgin zone; and come\nstorm, come shine, come good, come evil, come life, come death, it\nnever, never can be undone. For, of a truth, that which is, is, and,\nbeing done, is done for aye, and cannot be altered. I have said--Let us\nhence, that all things may be accomplished in their order;\" and, taking\none of the lamps, she advanced towards the end of the chamber that was\nroofed in by the swaying stone, where she halted.\n\nWe followed her, and perceived that in the wall of the cone there was a\nstair, or, to be more accurate, that some projecting knobs of rock had\nbeen so shaped as to form a good imitation of a stair. Down this Ayesha\nbegan to climb, springing from step to step, like a chamois, and after\nher we followed with less grace. When we had descended some fifteen\nor sixteen steps we found that they ended in a tremendous rocky slope,\nrunning first outwards and then inwards--like the slope of an inverted\ncone, or tunnel. The slope was very steep, and often precipitous, but\nit was nowhere impassable, and by the light of the lamps we went down it\nwith no great difficulty, though it was gloomy work enough travelling on\nthus, no one of us knew whither, into the dead heart of a volcano. As\nwe went, however, I took the precaution of noting our route as well as\nI could; and this was not so very difficult, owing to the extraordinary\nand most fantastic shape of the rocks that were strewn about, many of\nwhich in that dim light looked more like the grim faces carven upon\nmediæval gargoyles than ordinary boulders.\n\nFor a long time we travelled on thus, half an hour I should say, till,\nafter we had descended for many hundreds of feet, I perceived that we\nwere reaching the point of the inverted cone. In another minute we were\nthere, and found that at the very apex of the funnel was a passage, so\nlow and narrow that we had to stoop as we crept along it in Indian file.\nAfter some fifty yards of this creeping, the passage suddenly widened\ninto a cave, so huge that we could see neither the roof nor the sides.\nWe only knew that it was a cave by the echo of our tread and the perfect\nquiet of the heavy air. On we went for many minutes in absolute awed\nsilence, like lost souls in the depths of Hades, Ayesha's white and\nghost-like form flitting in front of us, till once more the place ended\nin a passage which opened into a second cavern much smaller than the\nfirst. Indeed, we could clearly make out the arch and stony banks of\nthis second cave, and, from their rent and jagged appearance, discovered\nthat, like the first long passage down which we had passed through the\ncliff before we reached the quivering spur, it had, to all appearance,\nbeen torn in the bowels of the rock by the terrific force of some\nexplosive gas. At length this cave ended in a third passage, through\nwhich gleamed a faint glow of light.\n\nI heard Ayesha give a sigh of relief as this light dawned upon us.\n\n\"It is well,\" she said; \"prepare to enter the very womb of the Earth,\nwherein she doth conceive the Life that ye see brought forth in man and\nbeast--ay, and in every tree and flower.\"\n\nSwiftly she sped along, and after her we stumbled as best we might, our\nhearts filled like a cup with mingled dread and curiosity. What were we\nabout to see? We passed down the tunnel; stronger and stronger the light\nbeamed, reaching us in great flashes like the rays from a lighthouse, as\none by one they are thrown wide upon the darkness of the waters. Nor was\nthis all, for with the flashes came a soul-shaking sound like that of\nthunder and of crashing trees. Now we were through it, and--oh heavens!\n\nWe stood in a third cavern, some fifty feet in length by perhaps as\ngreat a height, and thirty wide. It was carpeted with fine white sand,\nand its walls had been worn smooth by the action of I know not what. The\ncavern was not dark like the others, it was filled with a soft glow of\nrose-coloured light, more beautiful to look on than anything that can\nbe conceived. But at first we saw no flashes, and heard no more of the\nthunderous sound. Presently, however, as we stood in amaze, gazing at\nthe marvellous sight, and wondering whence the rosy radiance flowed, a\ndread and beautiful thing happened. Across the far end of the\ncavern, with a grinding and crashing noise--a noise so dreadful and\nawe-inspiring that we all trembled, and Job actually sank to his\nknees--there flamed out an awful cloud or pillar of fire, like a rainbow\nmany-coloured, and like the lightning bright. For a space, perhaps forty\nseconds, it flamed and roared thus, turning slowly round and round, and\nthen by degrees the terrible noise ceased, and with the fire it passed\naway--I know not where--leaving behind it the same rosy glow that we had\nfirst seen.\n\n\"Draw near, draw near!\" cried Ayesha, with a voice of thrilling\nexultation. \"Behold the very Fountain and Heart of Life as it beats in\nthe bosom of the great world. Behold the substance from which all things\ndraw their energy, the bright Spirit of the Globe, without which it\ncannot live, but must grow cold and dead as the dead moon. Draw near,\nand wash you in the living flames, and take their virtue into your poor\nframes in all its virgin strength--not as it now feebly glows within\nyour bosoms, filtered thereto through all the fine strainers of a\nthousand intermediate lives, but as it is here in the very fount and\nseat of earthly Being.\"\n\nWe followed her through the rosy glow up to the head of the cave, till\nat last we stood before the spot where the great pulse beat and the\ngreat flame passed. And as we went we became sensible of a wild and\nsplendid exhilaration, of a glorious sense of such a fierce intensity of\nLife that the most buoyant moments of our strength seemed flat and tame\nand feeble beside it. It was the mere effluvium of the flame, the subtle\nether that it cast off as it passed, working on us, and making us feel\nstrong as giants and swift as eagles.\n\nWe reached the head of the cave, and gazed at each other in the glorious\nglow, and laughed aloud--even Job laughed, and he had not laughed for a\nweek--in the lightness of our hearts and the divine intoxication of our\nbrains. I know that I felt as though all the varied genius of which the\nhuman intellect is capable had descended upon me. I could have spoken\nin blank verse of Shakesperian beauty, all sorts of great ideas flashed\nthrough my mind; it was as though the bonds of my flesh had been\nloosened and left the spirit free to soar to the empyrean of its native\npower. The sensations that poured in upon me are indescribable. I seemed\nto live more keenly, to reach to a higher joy, and sip the goblet of a\nsubtler thought than ever it had been my lot to do before. I was another\nand most glorified self, and all the avenues of the Possible were for a\nspace laid open to the footsteps of the Real.\n\nThen, suddenly, whilst I rejoiced in this splendid vigour of a new-found\nself, from far, far away there came a dreadful muttering noise, that\ngrew and grew to a crash and a roar, which combined in itself all that\nis terrible and yet splendid in the possibilities of sound. Nearer it\ncame, and nearer yet, till it was close upon us, rolling down like all\nthe thunder-wheels of heaven behind the horses of the lightning. On\nit came, and with it came the glorious blinding cloud of many-coloured\nlight, and stood before us for a space, turning, as it seemed to us,\nslowly round and round, and then, accompanied by its attendant pomp of\nsound, passed away I know not whither.\n\nSo astonishing was the wondrous sight that one and all of us, save\n_She_, who stood up and stretched her hands towards the fire, sank down\nbefore it, and hid our faces in the sand.\n\nWhen it was gone, Ayesha spoke.\n\n\"Now, Kallikrates,\" she said, \"the mighty moment is at hand. When the\ngreat flame comes again thou must stand in it. First throw aside thy\ngarments, for it will burn them, though thee it will not hurt. Thou must\nstand in the flame while thy senses will endure, and when it embraces\nthee suck the fire down into thy very heart, and let it leap and play\naround thy every part, so that thou lose no moiety of its virtue.\nHearest thou me, Kallikrates?\"\n\n\"I hear thee, Ayesha,\" answered Leo, \"but, of a truth--I am no\ncoward--but I doubt me of that raging flame. How know I that it will\nnot utterly destroy me, so that I lose myself and lose thee also?\nNevertheless will I do it,\" he added.\n\nAyesha thought for a minute, and then said--\n\n\"It is not wonderful that thou shouldst doubt. Tell me, Kallikrates:\nif thou seest me stand in the flame and come forth unharmed, wilt thou\nenter also?\"\n\n\"Yes,\" he answered, \"I will enter even if it slay me. I have said that I\nwill enter now.\"\n\n\"And that will I also,\" I cried.\n\n\"What, my Holly!\" she laughed aloud; \"methought that thou wouldst naught\nof length of days. Why, how is this?\"\n\n\"Nay, I know not,\" I answered, \"but there is that in my heart that\ncalleth me to taste of the flame and live.\"\n\n\"It is well,\" she said. \"Thou art not altogether lost in folly. See now,\nI will for the second time bathe me in this living bath. Fain would I\nadd to my beauty and my length of days if that be possible. If it be not\npossible, at the least it cannot harm me.\n\n\"Also,\" she continued, after a momentary pause, \"is there another and\na deeper cause why I would once again dip me in the flame. When first I\ntasted of its virtue full was my heart of passion and of hatred of\nthat Egyptian Amenartas, and therefore, despite my strivings to be rid\nthereof, have passion and hatred been stamped upon my soul from that sad\nhour to this. But now it is otherwise. Now is my mood a happy mood, and\nfilled am I with the purest part of thought, and so would I ever be.\nTherefore, Kallikrates, will I once more wash and make me pure and\nclean, and yet more fit for thee. Therefore also, when thou dost in turn\nstand in the fire, empty all thy heart of evil, and let soft contentment\nhold the balance of thy mind. Shake loose thy spirit's wings, and take\nthy stand upon the utter verge of holy contemplation; ay, dream upon thy\nmother's kiss, and turn thee towards the vision of the highest good that\nhath ever swept on silver wings across the silence of thy dreams. For\nfrom the germ of what thou art in that dread moment shall grow the fruit\nof what thou shalt be for all unreckoned time.\n\n\"Now prepare thee, prepare! even as though thy last hour were at hand,\nand thou wast to cross to the Land of Shadows, and not through the Gates\nof Glory into the realms of Life made beautiful. Prepare, I say!\"\n\n\n\nXXVI\n\nWHAT WE SAW\n\nThen came a few moments' pause, during which Ayesha seemed to be\ngathering up her strength for the fiery trial, while we clung to each\nother, and waited in utter silence.\n\nAt last, from far far away, came the first murmur of sound, that grew\nand grew till it began to crash and bellow in the distance. As she heard\nit, Ayesha swiftly threw off her gauzy wrapping, loosened the golden\nsnake from her kirtle, and then, shaking her lovely hair about her like\na garment, beneath its cover slipped the kirtle off and replaced the\nsnaky belt around her and outside the masses of her falling hair. There\nshe stood before us as Eve might have stood before Adam, clad in nothing\nbut her abundant locks, held round her by the golden band; and no words\nof mine can tell how sweet she looked--and yet how divine. Nearer and\nnearer came the thunder-wheels of fire, and as they came she pushed one\nivory arm through the dark masses of her hair and flung it round Leo's\nneck.\n\n\"Oh, my love, my love!\" she murmured, \"wilt thou ever know how I have\nloved thee?\" and she kissed him on the forehead, and then went and stood\nin the pathway of the flame of Life.\n\nThere was, I remember, to my mind something very touching about her\nwords and that embrace upon the forehead. It was like a mother's kiss,\nand seemed to convey a benediction with it.\n\nOn came the crashing, rolling noise, and the sound of it was as the\nsound of a forest being swept flat by a mighty wind, and then tossed\nup like so much grass, and thundered down a mountain-side. Nearer and\nnearer it came; now flashes of light, forerunners of the revolving\npillar of flame, were passing like arrows through the rosy air; and now\nthe edge of the pillar itself appeared. Ayesha turned towards it, and\nstretched out her arms to greet it. On it came very slowly, and lapped\nher round with flame. I saw the fire run up her form. I saw her lift it\nwith both hands as though it were water, and pour it over her head. I\neven saw her open her mouth and draw it down into her lungs, and a dread\nand wonderful sight it was.\n\nThen she paused, and stretched out her arms, and stood there quite\nstill, with a heavenly smile upon her face, as though she were the very\nSpirit of the Flame.\n\nThe mysterious fire played up and down her dark and rolling locks,\ntwining and twisting itself through and around them like threads of\ngolden lace; it gleamed upon her ivory breast and shoulder, from which\nthe hair had slipped aside; it slid along her pillared throat and\ndelicate features, and seemed to find a home in the glorious eyes that\nshone and shone, more brightly even than the spiritual essence.\n\nOh, how beautiful she looked there in the flame! No angel out of heaven\ncould have worn a greater loveliness. Even now my heart faints before\nthe recollection of it, as she stood and smiled at our awed faces, and\nI would give half my remaining time upon this earth to see her once like\nthat again.\n\nBut suddenly--more suddenly than I can describe--a kind of change came\nover her face, a change which I could not define or explain, but none\nthe less a change. The smile vanished, and in its place there came a\ndry, hard look; the rounded face seemed to grow pinched, as though some\ngreat anxiety were leaving its impress upon it. The glorious eyes, too,\nlost their light, and, as I thought, the form its perfect shape and\nerectness.\n\nI rubbed my eyes, thinking that I was the victim of some hallucination,\nor that the refraction from the intense light produced an optical\ndelusion; and, as I did so, the flaming pillar slowly twisted and\nthundered off whithersoever it passes to in the bowels of the great\nearth, leaving Ayesha standing where it had been.\n\nAs soon as it was gone, she stepped forward to Leo's side--it seemed to\nme that there was no spring in her step--and stretched out her hand\nto lay it on his shoulder. I gazed at her arm. Where was its wonderful\nroundness and beauty? It was getting thin and angular. And her face--by\nHeaven!--_her face was growing old before my eyes!_ I suppose that Leo\nsaw it also; certainly he recoiled a step or two.\n\n\"What is it, my Kallikrates?\" she said, and her voice--what was the\nmatter with those deep and thrilling notes? They were quite high and\ncracked.\n\n\"Why, what is it--what is it?\" she said confusedly. \"I feel dazed.\nSurely the quality of the fire hath not altered. Can the principle of\nLife alter? Tell me, Kallikrates, is there aught wrong with my eyes?\nI see not clear,\" and she put her hand to her head and touched her\nhair--and oh, _horror of horrors!_--it all fell upon the floor.\n\n\"Oh, _look!--look!--look!_\" shrieked Job, in a shrill falsetto of\nterror, his eyes nearly dropping out of his head, and foam upon his\nlips. \"_Look!--look!--look!_ she's shrivelling up! she's turning into\na monkey!\" and down he fell upon the ground, foaming and gnashing in a\nfit.\n\nTrue enough--I faint even as I write it in the living presence of that\nterrible recollection--she _was_ shrivelling up; the golden snake that\nhad encircled her gracious form slipped over her hips and to the ground;\nsmaller and smaller she grew; her skin changed colour, and in place of\nthe perfect whiteness of its lustre it turned dirty brown and yellow,\nlike an piece of withered parchment. She felt at her head: the\ndelicate hand was nothing but a claw now, a human talon like that of a\nbadly-preserved Egyptian mummy, and then she seemed to realise what kind\nof change was passing over her, and she shrieked--ah, she shrieked!--she\nrolled upon the floor and shrieked!\n\nSmaller she grew, and smaller yet, till she was no larger than a monkey.\nNow the skin was puckered into a million wrinkles, and on the shapeless\nface was the stamp of unutterable age. I never saw anything like it;\nnobody ever saw anything like the frightful age that was graven on that\nfearful countenance, no bigger now than that of a two-months' child,\nthough the skull remained the same size, or nearly so, and let all men\npray they never may, if they wish to keep their reason.\n\nAt last she lay still, or only feebly moving. She, who but two minutes\nbefore had gazed upon us the loveliest, noblest, most splendid woman the\nworld has ever seen, she lay still before us, near the masses of her own\ndark hair, no larger than a big monkey, and hideous--ah, too hideous for\nwords. And yet, think of this--at that very moment I thought of it--it\nwas the _same_ woman!\n\nShe was dying: we saw it, and thanked God--for while she lived she could\nfeel, and what must she have felt? She raised herself upon her bony\nhands, and blindly gazed around her, swaying her head slowly from side\nto side as a tortoise does. She could not see, for her whitish eyes were\ncovered with a horny film. Oh, the horrible pathos of the sight! But she\ncould still speak.\n\n\"Kallikrates,\" she said in husky, trembling notes. \"Forget me not,\nKallikrates. Have pity on my shame; I shall come again, and shall once\nmore be beautiful, I swear it--it is true! _Oh--h--h--_\" and she fell\nupon her face, and was still.\n\nOn the very spot where more than twenty centuries before she had slain\nKallikrates the priest, she herself fell down and died.\n\n* * * * *\n\nI know not how long we remained thus. Many hours, I suppose. When at\nlast I opened my eyes, the other two were still outstretched upon\nthe floor. The rosy light yet beamed like a celestial dawn, and the\nthunder-wheels of the Spirit of Life yet rolled upon their accustomed\ntrack, for as I awoke the great pillar was passing away. There, too, lay\nthe hideous little monkey frame, covered with crinkled yellow parchment,\nthat once had been the glorious _She_. Alas! it was no hideous dream--it\nwas an awful and unparalleled fact!\n\nWhat had happened to bring this shocking change about? Had the nature\nof the life-giving Fire changed? Did it, perhaps, from time to time send\nforth an essence of Death instead of an essence of Life? Or was it that\nthe frame once charged with its marvellous virtue could bear no more,\nso that were the process repeated--it mattered not at what lapse of\ntime--the two impregnations neutralised each other, and left the body\non which they acted as it was before it ever came into contact with the\nvery essence of Life? This, and this alone, would account for the sudden\nand terrible ageing of Ayesha, as the whole length of her two thousand\nyears took effect upon her. I have not the slightest doubt myself but\nthat the frame now lying before me was just what the frame of a woman\nwould be if by any extraordinary means life could be preserved in her\ntill she at length died at the age of two-and-twenty centuries.\n\nBut who can tell what had happened? There was the fact. Often since that\nawful hour I have reflected that it requires no great imagination to see\nthe finger of Providence in the matter. Ayesha locked up in her living\ntomb waiting from age to age for the coming of her lover worked but a\nsmall change in the order of the World. But Ayesha strong and happy in\nher love, clothed in immortal youth and goddess beauty, and the wisdom\nof the centuries, would have revolutionised society, and even perchance\nhave changed the destiny of Mankind. Thus she opposed herself against\nthe eternal law, and, strong though she was, by it was swept back to\nnothingness--swept back with shame and hideous mockery!\n\nFor some minutes I lay faintly turning these terrors over in my mind,\nwhile my physical strength came back to me, which it quickly did in that\nbuoyant atmosphere. Then I bethought me of the others, and staggered\nto my feet, to see if I could arouse them. But first I took up Ayesha's\nkirtle and the gauzy scarf with which she had been wont to hide her\ndazzling loveliness from the eyes of men, and, averting my head so that\nI might not look upon it, covered up that dreadful relic of the glorious\ndead, that shocking epitome of human beauty and human life. I did this\nhurriedly, fearing lest Leo should recover, and see it again.\n\nThen, stepping over the perfumed masses of dark hair that lay upon the\nsand, I stooped down by Job, who was lying upon his face, and turned him\nover. As I did so his arm fell back in a way that I did not like, and\nwhich sent a chill through me, and I glanced sharply at him. One look\nwas enough. Our old and faithful servant was dead. His nerves, already\nshattered by all he had seen and undergone, had utterly broken down\nbeneath this last dire sight, and he had died of terror, or in a fit\nbrought on by terror. I had only to look at his face to see it.\n\nIt was another blow; but perhaps it may help people to understand how\noverwhelmingly awful was the experience through which we had passed--we\ndid not feel it much at the time. It seemed quite natural that the poor\nfellow should be dead. When Leo came to himself, which he did with a\ngroan and trembling of the limbs about ten minutes afterwards, and I\ntold him that Job was dead, he merely said, \"_Oh!_\" And, mind you, this\nwas from no heartlessness, for he and Job were much attached to each\nother; and he often talks of him now with the deepest regret and\naffection. It was only that his nerves would bear no more. A harp can\ngive out but a certain quantity of sound, however heavily it is smitten.\n\nWell, I set myself to recovering Leo, who, to my infinite relief, I\nfound was not dead, but only fainting, and in the end I succeeded, as I\nhave said, and he sat up; and then I saw another dreadful thing. When we\nentered that awful place his curling hair had been of the ruddiest gold,\nnow it was turning grey, and by the time we reached the outer air it was\nsnow white. Besides, he looked twenty years older.\n\n\"What is to be done, old fellow?\" he said in a hollow, dead sort of\nvoice, when his mind had cleared a little, and a recollection of what\nhad happened forced itself upon it.\n\n\"Try and get out, I suppose,\" I answered; \"that is, unless you would\nlike to go in there,\" and I pointed to the column of fire that was once\nmore rolling by.\n\n\"I would go in if I were sure that it would kill me,\" he said with a\nlittle laugh. \"It was my cursed hesitation that did this. If I had not\nbeen doubtful she might never have tried to show me the road. But I am\nnot sure. The fire might have the opposite effect upon me. It might make\nme immortal; and, old fellow, I have not the patience to wait a couple\nof thousand years for her to come back again as she did for me. I had\nrather die when my hour comes--and I should fancy that it isn't far off\neither--and go my ways to look for her. Do you go in if you like.\"\n\nBut I merely shook my head, my excitement was as dead as ditch-water,\nand my distaste for the prolongation of my mortal span had come back\nupon me more strongly than ever. Besides, we neither of us knew what the\neffects of the fire might be. The result upon _She_ had not been of an\nencouraging nature, and of the exact causes that produced that result we\nwere, of course, ignorant.\n\n\"Well, my boy,\" I said, \"we cannot stop here till we go the way of those\ntwo,\" and I pointed to the little heap under the white garment and to\nthe stiffing corpse of poor Job. \"If we are going we had better go. But,\nby the way, I expect that the lamps have burnt out,\" and I took one up\nand looked at it, and sure enough it had.\n\n\"There is some more oil in the vase,\" said Leo indifferently--\"if it is\nnot broken, at least.\"\n\nI examined the vessel in question--it was intact. With a trembling\nhand I filled the lamps--luckily there was still some of the linen wick\nunburnt. Then I lit them with one of our wax matches. While I did so\nwe heard the pillar of fire approaching once more as it went on its\nnever-ending journey, if, indeed, it was the same pillar that passed and\nrepassed in a circle.\n\n\"Let's see it come once more,\" said Leo; \"we shall never look upon its\nlike again in this world.\"\n\nIt seemed a bit of idle curiosity, but somehow I shared it, and so we\nwaited till, turning slowly round upon its own axis, it had flamed and\nthundered by; and I remember wondering for how many thousands of years\nthis same phenomenon had been taking place in the bowels of the earth,\nand for how many more thousands it would continue to take place. I\nwondered also if any mortal eyes would ever again mark its passage, or\nany mortal ears be thrilled and fascinated by the swelling volume of its\nmajestic sound. I do not think that they will. I believe that we are the\nlast human beings who will ever see that unearthly sight. Presently it\nhad gone, and we too turned to go.\n\nBut before we did so we each took Job's cold hand in ours and shook it.\nIt was a rather ghastly ceremony, but it was the only means in our\npower of showing our respect to the faithful dead and of celebrating his\nobsequies. The heap beneath the white garment we did not uncover. We had\nno wish to look upon that terrible sight again. But we went to the pile\nof rippling hair that had fallen from her in the agony of that hideous\nchange which was worse than a thousand natural deaths, and each of us\ndrew from it a shining lock, and these locks we still have, the sole\nmemento that is left to us of Ayesha as we knew her in the fulness of\nher grace and glory. Leo pressed the perfumed hair to his lips.\n\n\"She called to me not to forget her,\" he said hoarsely; \"and swore that\nwe should meet again. By Heaven! I never will forget her. Here I swear\nthat if we live to get out of this, I will not for all my days have\nanything to say to another living woman, and that wherever I go I will\nwait for her as faithfully as she waited for me.\"\n\n\"Yes,\" I thought to myself, \"if she comes back as beautiful as we knew\nher. But supposing she came back _like that!_\"[*]\n\n     [*] What a terrifying reflection it is, by the way, that\n     nearly all our deep love for women who are not our kindred\n     depends--at any rate, in the first instance--upon their\n     personal appearance. If we lost them, and found them again\n     dreadful to look on, though otherwise they were the very\n     same, should we still love them? --L. H. H.\n\nWell, and then we went. We went, and left those two in the presence of\nthe very well and spring of Life, but gathered to the cold company of\nDeath. How lonely they looked as they lay there, and how ill assorted!\nThat little heap had been for two thousand years the wisest, loveliest,\nproudest creature--I can hardly call her woman--in the whole universe.\nShe had been wicked, too, in her way; but, alas! such is the frailty\nof the human heart, her wickedness had not detracted from her charm.\nIndeed, I am by no means certain that it did not add to it. It was after\nall of a grand order, there was nothing mean or small about Ayesha.\n\nAnd poor Job too! His presentiment had come true, and there was an end\nof him. Well, he has a strange burial-place--no Norfolk hind ever had a\nstranger, or ever will; and it is something to lie in the same sepulchre\nas the poor remains of the imperial _She_.\n\nWe looked our last upon them and the indescribable rosy glow in which\nthey lay, and then with hearts far too heavy for words we left them, and\ncrept thence broken-down men--so broken down that we even renounced the\nchance of practically immortal life, because all that made life valuable\nhad gone from us, and we knew even then that to prolong our days\nindefinitely would only be to prolong our sufferings. For we felt--yes,\nboth of us--that having once looked Ayesha in the eyes, we could not\nforget her for ever and ever while memory and identity remained. We\nboth loved her now and for all time, she was stamped and carven on our\nhearts, and no other woman or interest could ever raze that splendid\ndie. And I--there lies the sting--I had and have no right to think thus\nof her. As she told me, I was naught to her, and never shall be through\nthe unfathomed depths of Time, unless, indeed, conditions alter, and\na day comes at last when two men may love one woman, and all three be\nhappy in the fact. It is the only hope of my broken-heartedness, and a\nrather faint one. Beyond it I have nothing. I have paid down this heavy\nprice, all that I am worth here and hereafter, and that is my sole\nreward. With Leo it is different, and often and often I bitterly envy\nhim his happy lot, for if _She_ was right, and her wisdom and knowledge\ndid not fail her at the last, which, arguing from the precedent of her\nown case, I think most unlikely, he has some future to look forward to.\nBut I have none, and yet--mark the folly and the weakness of the human\nheart, and let him who is wise learn wisdom from it--yet I would not\nhave it otherwise. I mean that I am content to give what I have given\nand must always give, and take in payment those crumbs that fall from\nmy mistress's table, the memory of a few kind words, the hope one day\nin the far undreamed future of a sweet smile or two of recognition, a\nlittle gentle friendship, and a little show of thanks for my devotion to\nher--and Leo.\n\nIf that does not constitute true love, I do not know what does, and all\nI have to say is that it is a very bad state of affairs for a man on the\nwrong side of middle age to fall into.\n\n\n\nXXVII\n\nWE LEAP\n\nWe passed through the caves without trouble, but when we came to the\nslope of the inverted cone two difficulties stared us in the face. The\nfirst of these was the laborious nature of the ascent, and the next the\nextreme difficulty of finding our way. Indeed, had it not been for the\nmental notes that I had fortunately taken of the shape of various rocks,\nI am sure that we never should have managed it at all, but have wandered\nabout in the dreadful womb of the volcano--for I suppose it must\nonce have been something of the sort--until we died of exhaustion and\ndespair. As it was we went wrong several times, and once nearly fell\ninto a huge crack or crevasse. It was terrible work creeping about\nin the dense gloom and awful stillness from boulder to boulder,\nand examining it by the feeble light of the lamps to see if I could\nrecognise its shape. We rarely spoke, our hearts were too heavy\nfor speech, we simply stumbled about, falling sometimes and cutting\nourselves, in a rather dogged sort of way. The fact was that our spirits\nwere utterly crushed, and we did not greatly care what happened to us.\nOnly we felt bound to try and save our lives whilst we could, and indeed\na natural instinct prompted us to it. So for some three or four hours,\nI should think--I cannot tell exactly how long, for we had no watch\nleft that would go--we blundered on. During the last two hours we were\ncompletely lost, and I began to fear that we had got into the funnel of\nsome subsidiary cone, when at last I suddenly recognised a very large\nrock which we had passed in descending but a little way from the top.\nIt is a marvel that I should have recognised it, and, indeed, we\nhad already passed it going at right angles to the proper path, when\nsomething about it struck me, and I turned back and examined it in an\nidle sort of way, and, as it happened, this proved our salvation.\n\nAfter this we gained the rocky natural stair without much further\ntrouble, and in due course found ourselves back in the little chamber\nwhere the benighted Noot had lived and died.\n\nBut now a fresh terror stared us in the face. It will be remembered that\nowing to Job's fear and awkwardness, the plank upon which we had crossed\nfrom the huge spur to the rocking-stone had been whirled off into the\ntremendous gulf below.\n\nHow were we to cross without the plank?\n\nThere was only one answer--we must try and _jump_ it, or else stop there\ntill we starved. The distance in itself was not so very great, between\neleven and twelve feet I should think, and I have seen Leo jump over\ntwenty when he was a young fellow at collage; but then, think of the\nconditions. Two weary, worn-out men, one of them on the wrong side of\nforty, a rocking-stone to take off from, a trembling point of rock some\nfew feet across to land upon, and a bottomless gulf to be cleared in a\nraging gale! It was bad enough, God knows, but when I pointed out these\nthings to Leo, he put the whole matter in a nutshell, by replying that,\nmerciless as the choice was, we must choose between the certainty of a\nlingering death in the chamber and the risk of a swift one in the air.\nOf course, there was no arguing against this, but one thing was clear,\nwe could not attempt that leap in the dark; the only thing to do was to\nwait for the ray of light which pierced through the gulf at sunset.\nHow near to or how far from sunset we might be, neither of us had the\nfaintest notion; all we did know was, that when at last the light came\nit would not endure more than a couple of minutes at the outside, so\nthat we must be prepared to meet it. Accordingly, we made up our minds\nto creep on to the top of the rocking-stone and lie there in readiness.\nWe were the more easily reconciled to this course by the fact that our\nlamps were once more nearly exhausted--indeed, one had gone out bodily,\nand the other was jumping up and down as the flame of a lamp does when\nthe oil is done. So, by the aid of its dying light, we hastened to crawl\nout of the little chamber and clamber up the side of the great stone.\n\nAs we did so the light went out.\n\nThe difference in our position was a sufficiently remarkable one.\nBelow, in the little chamber, we had only heard the roaring of the\ngale overhead--here, lying on our faces on the swinging stone, we were\nexposed to its full force and fury, as the great draught drew first from\nthis direction and then from that, howling against the mighty precipice\nand through the rocky cliffs like ten thousand despairing souls. We lay\nthere hour after hour in terror and misery of mind so deep that I will\nnot attempt to describe it, and listened to the wild storm-voices\nof that Tartarus, as, set to the deep undertone of the spur opposite\nagainst which the wind hummed like some awful harp, they called to each\nother from precipice to precipice. No nightmare dreamed by man, no wild\ninvention of the romancer, can ever equal the living horror of that\nplace, and the weird crying of those voices of the night, as we clung\nlike shipwrecked mariners to a raft, and tossed on the black, unfathomed\nwilderness of air. Fortunately the temperature was not a low one;\nindeed, the wind was warm, or we should have perished. So we clung and\nlistened, and while we were stretched out upon the rock a thing happened\nwhich was so curious and suggestive in itself, though doubtless a mere\ncoincidence, that, if anything, it added to, rather than deducted from,\nthe burden on our nerves.\n\nIt will be remembered that when Ayesha was standing on the spur, before\nwe crossed to the stone, the wind tore her cloak from her, and whirled\nit away into the darkness of the gulf, we could not see whither. Well--I\nhardly like to tell the story; it is so strange. As we lay there upon\nthe rocking-stone, this very cloak came floating out of the black space,\nlike a memory from the dead, and fell on Leo--so that it covered him\nnearly from head to foot. We could not at first make out what it was,\nbut soon discovered by its feel, and then poor Leo, for the first time,\ngave way, and I heard him sobbing there upon the stone. No doubt the\ncloak had been caught upon some pinnacle of the cliff, and was thence\nblown hither by a chance gust; but still, it was a most curious and\ntouching incident.\n\nShortly after this, suddenly, without the slightest previous warning,\nthe great red knife of light came stabbing the darkness through and\nthrough--struck the swaying stone on which we were, and rested its sharp\npoint upon the spur opposite.\n\n\"Now for it,\" said Leo, \"now or never.\"\n\nWe rose and stretched ourselves, and looked at the cloud-wreaths stained\nthe colour of blood by that red ray as they tore through the sickening\ndepths beneath, and then at the empty space between the swaying stone\nand the quivering rock, and, in our hearts, despaired, and prepared for\ndeath. Surely we could not clear it--desperate though we were.\n\n\"Who is to go first?\" said I.\n\n\"Do you, old fellow,\" answered Leo. \"I will sit upon the other side of\nthe stone to steady it. You must take as much run as you can, and jump\nhigh; and God have mercy on us, say I.\"\n\nI acquiesced with a nod, and then I did a thing I had never done since\nLeo was a little boy. I turned and put my arm round him, and kissed him\non the forehead. It sounds rather French, but as a fact I was taking my\nlast farewell of a man whom I could not have loved more if he had been\nmy own son twice over.\n\n\"Good-bye, my boy,\" I said, \"I hope that we shall meet again, wherever\nit is that we go to.\"\n\nThe fact was I did not expect to live another two minutes.\n\nNext I retreated to the far side of the rock, and waited till one of the\nchopping gusts of wind got behind me, and then I ran the length of the\nhuge stone, some three or four and thirty feet, and sprang wildly out\ninto the dizzy air. Oh! the sickening terrors that I felt as I launched\nmyself at that little point of rock, and the horrible sense of despair\nthat shot through my brain as I realised that I had _jumped short!_ but\nso it was, my feet never touched the point, they went down into space,\nonly my hands and body came in contact with it. I gripped at it with\na yell, but one hand slipped, and I swung right round, holding by the\nother, so that I faced the stone from which I had sprung. Wildly I\nstretched up with my left hand, and this time managed to grasp a knob of\nrock, and there I hung in the fierce red light, with thousands of feet\nof empty air beneath me. My hands were holding to either side of\nthe under part of the spur, so that its point was touching my head.\nTherefore, even if I could have found the strength, I could not pull\nmyself up. The most that I could do would be to hang for about a minute,\nand then drop down, down into the bottomless pit. If any man can imagine\na more hideous position, let him speak! All I know is that the torture\nof that half-minute nearly turned my brain.\n\nI heard Leo give a cry, and then suddenly saw him in mid air springing\nup and out like a chamois. It was a splendid leap that he took under the\ninfluence of his terror and despair, clearing the horrible gulf as if it\nwere nothing, and, landing well on to the rocky point, he threw himself\nupon his face, to prevent his pitching off into the depths. I felt the\nspur above me shake beneath the shock of his impact, and as it did so I\nsaw the huge rocking-stone, that had been violently depressed by him as\nhe sprang, fly back when relieved of his weight till, for the first time\nduring all these centuries, it got beyond its balance, fell with a\nmost awful crash right into the rocky chamber which had once served the\nphilosopher Noot for a hermitage, and, I have no doubt, for ever sealed\nthe passage that leads to the Place of Life with some hundreds of tons\nof rock.\n\nAll this happened in a second, and curiously enough, notwithstanding my\nterrible position, I noted it involuntarily, as it were. I even remember\nthinking that no human being would go down that dread path again.\n\nNext instant I felt Leo seize me by the right wrist with both hands. By\nlying flat on the point of rock he could just reach me.\n\n\"You must let go and swing yourself clear,\" he said in a calm and\ncollected voice, \"and then I will try and pull you up, or we will both\ngo together. Are you ready?\"\n\nBy way of answer I let go, first with my left hand and then with the\nright, and, as a consequence, swayed out clear of the overshadowing\nrock, my weight hanging upon Leo's arms. It was a dreadful moment. He\nwas a very powerful man, I knew, but would his strength be equal to\nlifting me up till I could get a hold on the top of the spur, when owing\nto his position he had so little purchase?\n\n\nFor a few seconds I swung to and fro, while he gathered himself for the\neffort, and then I heard his sinews cracking above me, and felt myself\nlifted up as though I were a little child, till I got my left arm round\nthe rock, and my chest was resting on it. The rest was easy; in two or\nthree more seconds I was up, and we were lying panting side by side,\ntrembling like leaves, and with the cold perspiration of terror pouring\nfrom our skins.\n\nAnd then, as before, the light went out like a lamp.\n\nFor some half-hour we lay thus without speaking a word, and then at\nlength began to creep along the great spur as best we might in the dense\ngloom. As we drew towards the face of the cliff, however, from which the\nspur sprang out like a spike from a wall, the light increased, though\nonly a very little, for it was night overhead. After that the gusts of\nwind decreased, and we got along rather better, and at last reached the\nmouth of the first cave or tunnel. But now a fresh trouble stared as\nin the face: our oil was gone, and the lamps were, no doubt, crushed to\npowder beneath the fallen rocking-stone. We were even without a drop of\nwater to stay our thirst, for we had drunk the last in the chamber\nof Noot. How were we to see to make our way through this last\nboulder-strewn tunnel?\n\nClearly all that we could do was to trust to our sense of feeling, and\nattempt the passage in the dark, so in we crept, fearing that if\nwe delayed to do so our exhaustion would overcome us, and we should\nprobably lie down and die where we were.\n\nOh, the horrors of that last tunnel! The place was strewn with rocks,\nand we fell over them, and knocked ourselves up against them till we\nwere bleeding from a score of wounds. Our only guide was the side of\nthe cavern, which we kept touching, and so bewildered did we grow in the\ndarkness that we were several times seized with the terrifying thought\nthat we had turned, and were travelling the wrong way. On we went,\nfeebly, and still more feebly, for hour after hour, stopping every few\nminutes to rest, for our strength was spent. Once we fell asleep, and, I\nthink, must have slept for some hours, for, when we woke, our limbs were\nquite stiff, and the blood from our blows and scratches had caked, and\nwas hard and dry upon our skin. Then we dragged ourselves on again, till\nat last, when despair was entering into our hearts, we once more saw the\nlight of day, and found ourselves outside the tunnel in the rocky fold\non the outer surface of the cliff that, it will be remembered, led into\nit.\n\nIt was early morning--that we could tell by the feel of the sweet air\nand the look of the blessed sky, which we had never hoped to see again.\nIt was, so near as we knew, an hour after sunset when we entered the\ntunnel, so it followed that it had taken us the entire night to crawl\nthrough that dreadful place.\n\n\"One more effort, Leo,\" I gasped, \"and we shall reach the slope where\nBillali is, if he hasn't gone. Come, don't give way,\" for he had cast\nhimself upon his face. He rose, and, leaning on each other, we got down\nthat fifty feet or so of cliff--somehow, I have not the least notion\nhow. I only remember that we found ourselves lying in a heap at the\nbottom, and then once more began to drag ourselves along on our hands\nand knees towards the grove where _She_ had told Billali to wait her\nre-arrival, for we could not walk another foot. We had not gone fifty\nyards in this fashion when suddenly one of the mutes emerged from\nthe trees on our left, through which, I presume, he had been taking a\nmorning stroll, and came running up to see what sort of strange animals\nwe were. He stared, and stared, and then held up his hands in horror,\nand nearly fell to the ground. Next, he started off as hard as he\ncould for the grove some two hundred yards away. No wonder that he was\nhorrified at our appearance, for we must have been a shocking sight.\nTo begin, Leo, with his golden curls turned a snowy white, his clothes\nnearly rent from his body, his worn face and his hands a mass of\nbruises, cuts, and blood-encrusted filth, was a sufficiently alarming\nspectacle, as he painfully dragged himself along the ground, and I\nhave no doubt that I was little better to look on. I know that two days\nafterwards when I inspected my face in some water I scarcely recognised\nmyself. I have never been famous for beauty, but there was something\nbeside ugliness stamped upon my features that I have never got rid\nof until this day, something resembling that wild look with which a\nstartled person wakes from deep sleep more than anything else that I can\nthink of. And really it is not to be wondered at. What I do wonder at is\nthat we escaped at all with our reason.\n\nPresently, to my intense relief, I saw old Billali hurrying towards\nus, and even then I could scarcely help smiling at the expression of\nconsternation on his dignified countenance.\n\n\"Oh, my Baboon! my Baboon!\" he cried, \"my dear son, is it indeed thee\nand the Lion? Why, his mane that was ripe as corn is white like\nthe snow. Whence come ye? and where is the Pig, and where too\n_She-who-must-be-obeyed_?\"\n\n\"Dead, both dead,\" I answered; \"but ask no questions; help us, and give\nus food and water, or we too shall die before thine eyes. Seest thou not\nthat our tongues are black for want of water? How, then, can we talk?\"\n\n\"Dead!\" he gasped. \"Impossible. _She_ who never dies--dead, how can it\nbe?\" and then, perceiving, I think, that his face was being watched by\nthe mutes who had come running up, he checked himself, and motioned to\nthem to carry us to the camp, which they did.\n\nFortunately when we arrived some broth was boiling on the fire, and with\nthis Billali fed us, for we were too weak to feed ourselves, thereby\nI firmly believe saving us from death by exhaustion. Then he bade the\nmutes wash the blood and grime from us with wet cloths, and after that\nwe were laid down upon piles of aromatic grass, and instantly fell into\nthe dead sleep of absolute exhaustion of mind and body.\n\n\n\nXXVIII\n\nOVER THE MOUNTAIN\n\nThe next thing I recollect is a feeling of the most dreadful stiffness,\nand a sort of vague idea passing through my half-awakened brain that I\nwas a carpet that had just been beaten. I opened my eyes, and the first\nthing they fell on was the venerable countenance of our old friend\nBillali, who was seated by the side of the improvised bed upon which I\nwas sleeping, and thoughtfully stroking his long beard. The sight of\nhim at once brought back to my mind a recollection of all that we had\nrecently passed through, which was accentuated by the vision of poor\nLeo lying opposite to me, his face knocked almost to a jelly, and his\nbeautiful crowd of curls turned from yellow to white,[*] and I shut my\neyes again and groaned.\n\n     [*] Curiously enough, Leo's hair has lately been to some\n     extent regaining its colour--that is to say, it is now a\n     yellowish grey, and I am not without hopes that it will in\n     time come quite right.--L. H. H.\n\n\"Thou hast slept long, my Baboon,\" said old Billali.\n\n\"How long, my father?\" I asked.\n\n\"A round of the sun and a round of the moon, a day and a night hast thou\nslept, and the Lion also. See, he sleepeth yet.\"\n\n\"Blessed is sleep,\" I answered, \"for it swallows up recollection.\"\n\n\"Tell me,\" he said, \"what hath befallen you, and what is this strange\nstory of the death of Her who dieth not. Bethink thee, my son: if this\nbe true, then is thy danger and the danger of the Lion very great--nay,\nalmost is the pot red wherewith ye shall be potted, and the stomachs of\nthose who shall eat ye are already hungry for the feast. Knowest thou\nnot that these Amahagger, my children, these dwellers in the caves,\nhate ye? They hate ye as strangers, they hate ye more because of their\nbrethren whom _She_ put to the torment for your sake. Assuredly, if once\nthey learn that there is naught to fear from Hiya, from the terrible\nOne-who-must-be-obeyed, they will slay ye by the pot. But let me hear\nthy tale, my poor Baboon.\"\n\nThis adjured, I set to work and told him--not everything, indeed, for\nI did not think it desirable to do so, but sufficient for my purpose,\nwhich was to make him understand that _She_ was really no more, having\nfallen into some fire, and, as I put it--for the real thing would have\nbeen incomprehensible to him--been burnt up. I also told him some of the\nhorrors we had undergone in effecting our escape, and these produced a\ngreat impression on him. But I clearly saw that he did not believe in\nthe report of Ayesha's death. He believed indeed that we thought\nthat she was dead, but his explanation was that it had suited her to\ndisappear for a while. Once, he said, in his father's time, she had done\nso for twelve years, and there was a tradition in the country that many\ncenturies back no one had seen her for a whole generation, when she\nsuddenly reappeared, and destroyed a woman who had assumed the position\nof Queen. I said nothing to this, but only shook my head sadly. Alas!\nI knew too well that Ayesha would appear no more, or at any rate that\nBillali would never see her again.\n\n\"And now,\" concluded Billali, \"what wouldst thou do, my Baboon?\"\n\n\"Nay,\" I said, \"I know not, my father. Can we not escape from this\ncountry?\"\n\nHe shook his head.\n\n\"It is very difficult. By Kôr ye cannot pass, for ye would be seen,\nand as soon as those fierce ones found that ye were alone, well,\" and\nhe smiled significantly, and made a movement as though he were placing a\nhat on his head. \"But there is a way over the cliff whereof I once spake\nto thee, where they drive the cattle out to pasture. Then beyond the\npastures are three days' journey through the marshes, and after that\nI know not, but I have heard that seven days' journey from thence is\na mighty river, which floweth to the black water. If ye could come\nthither, perchance ye might escape, but how can ye come thither?\"\n\n\"Billali,\" I said, \"once, thou knowest, I did save thy life. Now pay\nback the debt, my father, and save me mine and my friend's, the Lion's.\nIt shall be a pleasant thing for thee to think of when thine hour comes,\nand something to set in the scale against the evil doing of thy days, if\nperchance thou hast done any evil. Also, if thou be right, and if _She_\ndoth but hide herself, surely when she comes again she shall reward\nthee.\"\n\n\"My son the Baboon,\" answered the old man, \"think not that I have an\nungrateful heart. Well do I remember how thou didst rescue me when those\ndogs stood by to see me drown. Measure for measure will I give thee,\nand if thou canst be saved, surely I will save thee. Listen: by dawn\nto-morrow be prepared, for litters shall be here to bear ye away across\nthe mountains, and through the marshes beyond. This will I do, saying\nthat it is the word of _She_ that it be done, and he who obeyeth not the\nword of _She_ food is he for the hyænas. Then when ye have crossed the\nmarshes, ye must strike with your own hands, so that perchance, if good\nfortune go with you, ye may live to come to that black water whereof ye\ntold me. And now, see, the Lion wakes, and ye must eat the food I have\nmade ready for you.\"\n\nLeo's condition when once he was fairly aroused proved not to be so\nbad as might have been expected from his appearance, and we both of us\nmanaged to eat a hearty meal, which indeed we needed sadly enough. After\nthis we limped down to the spring and bathed, and then came back and\nslept again till evening, when we once more ate enough for five. Billali\nwas away all that day, no doubt making arrangements about litters and\nbearers, for we were awakened in the middle of the night by the arrival\nof a considerable number of men in the little camp.\n\nAt dawn the old man himself appeared, and told us that he had by using\n_She's_ dreadful name, though with some difficulty, succeeded in getting\nthe necessary men and two guides to conduct us across the swamps, and\nthat he urged us to start at once, at the same time announcing his\nintention of accompanying us so as to protect us against treachery. I\nwas much touched by this act of kindness on the part of that wily old\nbarbarian towards two utterly defenceless strangers. A three--or in\nhis case, for he would have to return, six--days' journey through those\ndeadly swamps was no light undertaking for a man of his age, but he\nconsented to do it cheerfully in order to promote our safety. It shows\nthat even among those dreadful Amahagger--who are certainly with their\ngloom and their devilish and ferocious rites by far the most terrible\nsavages that I ever heard of--there are people with kindly hearts. Of\ncourse, self-interest may have had something to do with it. He may have\nthought that _She_ would suddenly reappear and demand an account of us\nat his hands, but still, allowing for all deductions, it was a great\ndeal more than we could expect under the circumstances, and I can only\nsay that I shall for as long as I live cherish a most affectionate\nremembrance of my nominal parent, old Billali.\n\nAccordingly, after swallowing some food, we started in the litters,\nfeeling, so far as our bodies went, wonderfully like our old selves\nafter our long rest and sleep. I must leave the condition of our minds\nto the imagination.\n\nThen came a terrible pull up the cliff. Sometimes the ascent was more\nnatural, more often it was a zig-zag roadway cut, no doubt, in the first\ninstance by the old inhabitants of Kôr. The Amahagger say they drive\ntheir spare cattle over it once a year to pasture outside; all I know is\nthat those cattle must be uncommonly active on their feet. Of course the\nlitters were useless here, so we had to walk.\n\nBy midday, however, we reached the great flat top of that mighty wall of\nrock, and grand enough the view was from it, with the plain of Kôr, in\nthe centre of which we could clearly make out the pillared ruins of the\nTemple of Truth to the one side, and the boundless and melancholy marsh\non the other. This wall of rock, which had no doubt once formed the lip\nof the crater, was about a mile and a half thick, and still covered with\nclinker. Nothing grew there, and the only thing to relieve our eyes were\noccasional pools of rain-water (for rain had lately fallen) wherever\nthere was a little hollow. Over the flat crest of this mighty rampart we\nwent, and then came the descent, which, if not so difficult a matter\nas the getting up, was still sufficiently break-neck, and took us till\nsunset. That night, however, we camped in safety upon the mighty slopes\nthat rolled away to the marsh beneath.\n\nOn the following morning, about eleven o'clock, began our dreary journey\nacross those awful seas of swamps which I have already described.\n\nFor three whole days, through stench and mire, and the all-prevailing\nflavour of fear, did our bearers struggle along, till at length we came\nto open rolling ground quite uncultivated, and mostly treeless, but\ncovered with game of all sorts, which lies beyond that most desolate,\nand without guides utterly impracticable, district. And here on the\nfollowing morning we bade farewell, not without some regret, to old\nBillali, who stroked his white beard and solemnly blessed us.\n\n\"Farewell, my son the Baboon,\" he said, \"and farewell to thee too, oh\nLion. I can do no more to help you. But if ever ye come to your country,\nbe advised, and venture no more into lands that ye know not, lest ye\ncome back no more, but leave your white bones to mark the limit of your\njourneyings. Farewell once more; often shall I think of you, nor wilt\nthou forget me, my Baboon, for though thy face is ugly thy heart is\ntrue.\" And then he turned and went, and with him went the tall and\nsullen-looking bearers, and that was the last that we saw of the\nAmahagger. We watched them winding away with the empty litters like a\nprocession bearing dead men from a battle, till the mists from the marsh\ngathered round them and hid them, and then, left utterly desolate in the\nvast wilderness, we turned and gazed round us and at each other.\n\nThree weeks or so before four men had entered the marshes of Kôr, and\nnow two of us were dead, and the other two had gone through adventures\nand experiences so strange and terrible that death himself hath not a\nmore fearful countenance. Three weeks--and only three weeks! Truly time\nshould be measured by events, and not by the lapse of hours. It seemed\nlike thirty years since we saw the last of our whale-boat.\n\n\"We must strike out for the Zambesi, Leo,\" I said, \"but God knows if we\nshall ever get there.\"\n\nLeo nodded. He had become very silent of late, and we started with\nnothing but the clothes we stood in, a compass, our revolvers and\nexpress rifles, and about two hundred rounds of ammunition, and so ended\nthe history of our visit to the ancient ruins of mighty and imperial\nKôr.\n\nAs for the adventures that subsequently befell us, strange and varied\nas they were, I have, after deliberation, determined not to record them\nhere. In these pages I have only tried to give a short and clear account\nof an occurrence which I believe to be unprecedented, and this I have\ndone, not with a view to immediate publication, but merely to put\non paper while they are yet fresh in our memories the details of our\njourney and its result, which will, I believe, prove interesting to\nthe world if ever we determine to make them public. This, as at present\nadvised, we do not intend should be done during our joint lives.\n\nFor the rest, it is of no public interest, resembling as it does the\nexperience of more than one Central African traveller. Suffice it to\nsay, that we did, after incredible hardships and privations, reach the\nZambesi, which proved to be about a hundred and seventy miles south\nof where Billali left us. There we were for six months imprisoned by\na savage tribe, who believed us to be supernatural beings, chiefly on\naccount of Leo's youthful face and snow-white hair. From these people we\nultimately escaped, and, crossing the Zambesi, wandered off southwards,\nwhere, when on the point of starvation, we were sufficiently fortunate\nto fall in with a half-cast Portuguese elephant-hunter who had followed\na troop of elephants farther inland than he had ever been before. This\nman treated us most hospitably, and ultimately through his assistance\nwe, after innumerable sufferings and adventures, reached Delagoa Bay,\nmore than eighteen months from the time when we emerged from the marshes\nof Kôr, and the very next day managed to catch one of the steamboats\nthat run round the Cape to England. Our journey home was a prosperous\none, and we set our foot on the quay at Southampton exactly two years\nfrom the date of our departure upon our wild and seemingly ridiculous\nquest, and I now write these last words with Leo leaning over my\nshoulder in my old room in my college, the very same into which some\ntwo-and-twenty years ago my poor friend Vincey came stumbling on the\nmemorable night of his death, bearing the iron chest with him.\n\n\n\nAnd that is the end of this history so far as it concerns science and\nthe outside world. What its end will be as regards Leo and myself is\nmore than I can guess at. But we feel that is not reached yet. A story\nthat began more than two thousand years ago may stretch a long way into\nthe dim and distant future.\n\nIs Leo really a reincarnation of the ancient Kallikrates of whom the\ninscription tells? Or was Ayesha deceived by some strange hereditary\nresemblance? The reader must form his own opinion on this as on many\nother matters. I have mine, which is that she made no such mistake.\n\nOften I sit alone at night, staring with the eyes of the mind into the\nblackness of unborn time, and wondering in what shape and form the great\ndrama will be finally developed, and where the scene of its next act\nwill be laid. And when that _final_ development ultimately occurs, as I\nhave no doubt it must and will occur, in obedience to a fate that never\nswerves and a purpose that cannot be altered, what will be the part\nplayed therein by that beautiful Egyptian Amenartas, the Princess of the\nroyal race of the Pharaohs, for the love of whom the Priest Kallikrates\nbroke his vows to Isis, and, pursued by the inexorable vengeance of the\noutraged Goddess, fled down the coast of Libya to meet his doom at Kôr?"