Morning Star | Page 6

stars shown you----?" and he looked at him eagerly.
"No, Prince, not exactly that. I did not think it needful to search them
on a matter which seems established, more or less."
"More or less," answered Abi gloomily. "What do you mean by your
'more or less'? Here am I at the turning-point of my fortunes, not
knowing whether I am to be Pharaoh of the Upper and Lower Lands, or
only the petty lord of a city and a few provinces in the Delta, and you
satisfy my hunger for the truth with an empty dish of 'more or less.'
Man, what do you mean?"

"If your Majesty will be pleased to tell his servant exactly what you
desire to know, perhaps I may be able to answer the question," replied
Kaku humbly.
"Majesty! Well, I desire to know by what warrant you call me
'Majesty,' who am only Prince of Memphis. Did the stars give it to you?
Have you obeyed me and asked them of the future?"
"Certainly, certainly. How could I disobey? I observed them all last
night, and have been working out the results till this moment; indeed,
they are not yet finished. Question and I will answer."
"You will answer, yes, but what will you answer? Not the truth, I fancy,
because you are a coward, though if anyone can read the truth, it is you.
Man," he added fiercely, "if you dare to lie to me I will cut your head
off and take it to Pharaoh as a traitor's; and your body shall lie, not in
that fine tomb which you have made, but in the belly of a crocodile
whence there is no resurrection. Do you understand? Then let us come
to the point. Look, the sun sets there behind the Tombs of Kings, where
the departed Pharaohs of Egypt take their rest till the Day of
Awakening. It is a bad omen for me, I know, who wished to reach this
city in the morning when Ra was in the House of Life, the East, and not
in the House of Death, the West; but that accursed wind sent by
Typhon, held me back and I could not. Well, let us begin at the end
which must come after all. Tell me, you reader of the heavens, shall I
sleep at last in that valley?"
"I think so, Prince; at least, so says your planet. Look, yonder, it springs
to life above you," and he pointed to an orb that appeared at the
topmost edge of the red glow of the sunset.
"You are keeping something back from me," said Abi, searching
Kaku's face with his fierce eyes. "Shall I sleep in the tomb of Pharaoh,
in my own everlasting house that I shall have made ready to receive
me?"
"Son of Ra, I cannot say," answered the astrologer. "Divine One, I will
be frank with you. Though you be wrath, yet will I tell you the truth as

you command me. An evil influence is at work in your House of Life.
Another star crosses and re-crosses your path, and though for a long
time you seem to swallow it up, yet at the last it eclipses you-- it and
one that goes with it."
"What star?" asked Abi hoarsely, "Pharaoh's?"
"Nay, Prince, the star of Amen."
"Amen! What Amen?"
"Amen the god, Prince, the mighty father of the gods."
"Amen the god," repeated Abi in an awed voice. "How can a man fight
against a god?"
"Say rather against two gods, for with the star of Amen goes the star of
Hathor, Queen of Love. Not for many periods of thousands of years
have they been together, but now they draw near to each other, and so
will remain for all your life. Look," and Kaku pointed to the Eastern
horizon where a faint rosy glow still lingered reflected from the western
sky.
As they watched this glow melted, and there in the pure heavens, lying
just where it met the distant land, seeming to rest upon the land, indeed,
appeared a bright and beautiful star, and so close to it that, to the eye,
they almost touched, a twin star. For a few minutes only were they seen;
then they vanished beneath the line of the horizon.
"The morning star of Amen, and with it the star of Hathor," said the
astrologer.
"Well, Fool, what of it?" exclaimed Abi. "They are far enough from my
star; moreover, it is they that sink, not I, who ride higher every
moment."
"Aye, Prince, but in a year to come they will certainly eclipse that star
of yours. Prince, Amen and Hathor are against you. Look, I will show

you their journeyings on this scroll and you shall see where they eat
you