en light broke upon him. He looked around the chamber--there on the
walls were the graven images of the Gods of Khem, there above the bed
the names of Meneptah and Meriamun were written side by side in the
sacred signs of Khem. Not with the Golden Helen had he slept, but with
the wife of Pharaoh! To her he had sworn the oath, and she had worn the
Helen's shape--and now the spell was broken.

He stood amazed, and as he stood, again the great bow thrilled, warning
him of Death to come. Then his strength came back to him, and he seized
his armour and girt it about him piece by piece till he lifted the
golden helm. It slipped from his hand; with a crash it fell upon the
marble floor. With a crash it fell, and she who slept in the bed awoke
with a cry, and sprang from the bed, her dark hair streaming down, her
night-gear held to her by the golden snake with gemmy eyes that she must
ever wear. But he caught his sword in his hand, and threw down the ivory
sheath.

BOOK III

I

THE VENGEANCE OF KURRI

The Wanderer and Pharaoh's Queen stood face to face in the twilight of
the chamber. They stood in silence, while bitter anger and burning shame
poured into his heart and shone from his eyes. But the face of Meriamun
was cold as the dead, and on it was a smile such as the carven sphinxes
wear. Only her breast heaved tumultuously as though in triumph, and her
limbs quivered like a shaken reed. At length she spoke.

"Why lookest thou so strangely on me, my Lord and Love; and why hast
thou girded thy harness on thy back? Scarcely doth glorious Ra creep
from the breast of Nout, and wouldest thou leave thy bridal bed,
Odysseus?"

Still he spoke no word, but looked on her with burning eyes. Then she
stretched out her arms and came towards him lover-like. And now he found
his tongue again.

"Get thee from me!" he said, in a voice low and terrible to hear; "get
thee from me. Dare not to touch me, thou, who art a harlot and a witch,
lest I forget my manhood and strike thee dead before me."

"That thou canst not do, Odysseus," she answered soft, "for whatever
else I be I am thy wife, and thou art bound to me for ever. What was the
oath which thou didst swear not five short hours ago?"

"I swore an oath indeed, but not to thee, Meriamun. I swore an oath to
Argive Helen, whom I love, and I wake to find thee sleeping at my side,
thee whom I hate."

"Nay," she said, "to me thou didst swear the oath, Odysseus, for thou,
o