“His robe of blue and gold, is sprinkled with jewels as the dew sprinkles the green sward in the early morning time. He speaks, and his voice is like the tenderest note of music.
“‘Hatsu,’ he says; ‘Hatsu.’ And the birds at the sound of his voice fly to him, and nestle against him, as children nestle close to a mother.
“‘Hatsu,’ he says, ‘daughter of Tothmes the First, draw near without fear, and mount the steps of the altar, and pass under the folds of the divine wings, into the sanctuary—the Holy of the Holies—and be thou not consumed.’ With a cry Miriam rose and stretched out her arms.
“God of my fathers,” she wailed. “Save her! save Hatsu! Let no vengeance from any heathen god fall upon her, because in the madness of her grief, she has said defiant words! Stay their power, oh God, to turn Egypt’s hope into the semblance of some defiled beast or bird.
“She will not ask mercy from them, my strong, proud Princess! She knows not what fear may mean! Her eyes are calm, her lips are parted in a quiet smile; no fate can daunt her!
“As I speak, lo! following the Sun God, she has passed through the folds! she stands on the other side of the curtain. It is a bare, plain room. In the centre of the apartment is set a rude table and a few chairs. The man with the golden hair speaks.
“‘Princess,’ he says, ‘I have bidden that you come thither, that I may speak in your ear, concerning that, which can no longer be cherished by me alone. I am, Princess, Zelas, the High Priest of Osirus.
“‘I am, at your father’s behest, left to guide, and to guard you, I am left with the power to place you on the throne of Egypt, a virgin queen.
“‘Full well our late King knew, that his people could not be ruled over by his eldest son (his sister’s child) who has not so much wisdom as yonder gibbering ape, and Ashel, Tothmes the Second’s mother, the King had discovered to be a creature of mean cunning, and low covetuousness, and he saw in your second brother, an artful and ambitious plotter. Listen, oh Princess, while I rehearse to you the earth story of Tothmes the first. He was a born King, a statesman, and a diplomat, from the earliest day of his reign, Egypt was his constant and absorbing thought, Her power, Her glory, Her advancement, his waking theme.
“‘He revolutionized the army, added ships to the depleted squadrons on the sea, enlarged and beautified the temple of Ammon, and built the pyramid of Cheops—thus enabling the Scientists of his day, to bring to a completion, much that had never before been deemed possible of demonstration, in electricity, astronomy, and mathematics.