given to her in the city of Goshen, one spot of brightest blue amid
a cloud of white. She looked neither to right nor left of her. Once only
she glanced at the towering statue of the god that frowned above, then
with a little shiver, fixed her eyes upon the pattern of the floor.

"What does she look like?" whispered Bakenkhonsu to me.

"A corpse made ready for the embalmers," I answered.

He shook his great head.

"Then a bride made ready for her husband."

Again he shook his head.

"Then a priestess about to read from the roll of Mysteries."

"Now you have it, Ana, and to understand what she reads, which few
priestesses ever do. Also all three answers were right, for in this
woman I seem to see doom that is Death, life that is Love, and spirit
that is Power. She has a soul which both Heaven and Earth have kissed."

"Aye, but which of them will claim her in the end?"

"That we may learn before the dawn, Ana. Hush! the fight begins."

The head-priest, Roi, advanced and, standing before the god, sprinkled
his feet with water and with perfume. Then he stretched out his hands,
whereon all present prostrated themselves, save Merapi only, who stood
alone in that great place like the survivor of a battle.

"Hail to thee, Amon-Ra," he began, "Lord of Heaven, Establisher of
all things, Maker of the gods, who unrolled the skies and built the
foundations of the Earth. O god of gods, appears before thee this woman
Merapi, daughter of Nathan, a child of the Hebrew race that owns thee
not. This woman blasphemes thy might; this woman defies thee; this woman
sets up her god above thee. Is it not so, woman?"

"It is so," answered Merapi in a low voice.

"Thus does she defy thee, thou Only One of many Forms, saying 'if the
god Amon of the Egyptians be a greater god than my god, let him snatch
me out of the arms of my god and here in this the shrine of Amon take
the breath from out my lips and leave me a thing of clay.' Are these thy
words, O woman?"

"They are my words," she said in the same low voice, and oh! I shivered
as I heard.

The priest went on.

"O Lord of Time, Lord of Life, Lord of Spirits and the Divinities of
Heaven, Lord of Terror, come forth now in thy majesty and smite this
blasphemer to the dust."

Roi withdrew and Seti stood forward.

"Know, O god Amon," he said, addressing the statue as though he wee
speaking to a living man, "from the lips of me, thy high-priest, by
birth the Prince and Heir of